When I spoke on this motion last night I endeavoured to bring home to the Minister and the Government the shortcomings in this scheme as it operates at the moment. It is not suitable to Irish conditions. This must be pretty clear to the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries after seeing the scheme in operation for two years. I have no doubt he is considering changes in it. I have already mentioned a number of the changes this side of the House would like to see taking place. We have had a tradition in this country of helping the people who need help the most but under the farm modernisation scheme we have lost sight of this principle. A large percentage of our farmers, as high as 79 per cent, have no hope of becoming development farmers. They are the people who need help and it is not right that their grant rates should be reduced. We believe they are entitled to a living on the land.
What will be the position of those people after 1977? This has never been clarified. The Minister will probably say that they will be no worse off than they are at the present time. I would like him to say if he will be receiving the same grants and aids as those in the development and commercial categories. Those people are very perturbed by the position they find themselves in. Last night I said that the shortcomings of this scheme have not been fully felt as yet. I hope this debate will be something to make the people aware of the changes that are needed and those that must be brought about if the scheme is to operate to the advantage of the Irish farming community.
When one looks at this scheme one begins to think that it has missed the point that the small farmers in Ireland, in particular, have always had a love for their small holdings. They will not give them up too easily. They look back on the fight their forefathers had to hold the land. It is their way of life. We also have to accept that there is no alternative employment for them. Since this Government came into office, we have a very high rate of unemployment. Where will we find work for those who will be forced off the land under the farm modernisation scheme? Those people will be forced off the land because they will not qualify for the grants at the same rate as those who will be classified as development or commercial farmers and because of this lack of support will not be able to survive on the land.
No programme has been devised to find employment for them. There are no factories or industries of any description near those holdings where they could find suitable employment. The Government seem to have lost sight of this problem. They do not seem prepared to face up to it. It must be faced up to because it is a very definite problem. We also have the problem of farmers who are forced to retire at 55 years of age. If they do not do so, they are penalised by receiving 10 per cent less in their grants. This is a very severe cut and is unreasonable when one considers that the retiring age for the other sectors of the community is 65 years.
We must also take into account that, on average, continental farmers marry ten years younger than Irish farmers so this age should be 65 and not 55 if it is to be applied to Irish conditions. I advocate this change very strongly. Farmers of 55 years of age are very active people. They have very good farming ability and this is a very unjust penalty to impose on them.
We also have to consider the farmers who go out to earn their living to bring in extra money for themselves and their families by finding employment off the land. Those people are also penalised. They should be able to get the same grants and aids as the other sections of the farming community, whether they are development or commercial farmers. I know of many such people in my constituency and whether they work in Dungarvan, Portlaw, Clonmel, Youghal or anywhere else, it is not right to deprive them of the aids and grants they are entitled to. They should not be penalised for working off the land when they are trying to improve the living standards of themselves and their families.
The most serious aspect of the farm modernisation scheme is finding employment for those who come off the land. We should be able to avail of other aids and grants available from the EEC in the future to help to improve industry in rural Ireland. Such industry would have to be well placed and suited for the different areas. Those people do not want to work too far from the land and they do not want to emigrate. The Minister should pay attention to this matter and should seek changes in the farm modernisation scheme. Those changes are very necessary and are urgently needed.
I mentioned earlier the need for encouragement for market gardening and tillage. We have encouragements for dairying, beef and sheep. There has been a huge drop in the potato acreage this year so prices have soared and housewives are paying enormous prices for potatoes. Farmers should be encouraged to engage in horticulture. There are some small, intensive, market gardeners in my area of Ballinacourty who have to bear high costs to modernise their production, and buy new machinery. They should get grants and aids to help them to develop. There is also a high percentage of farmers who are denied entry into the scheme because of the high borrowings they had to make in order to develop their farms. This borrowing is denying them entry to the scheme which is entirely wrong and should be rectified. Again, I appeal to the Minister to seek and bring about the changes that are so much desired in the farm modernisation scheme and make it suitable to Irish conditions.