I like to think that when I speak in this House I am being fair. When in opposition in the past if something good was introduced I was not slow to praise it. I am very disappointed with what happened over the last few weeks. Like previous Deputies I condemn this levy. This is another way of extracting money from the man who is up and doing. We are taxing the man who is doing most to help the economy. This has been a tough year for the dairy industry. It has been a long harsh winter. Until recently cows were being hand fed. It is only within the last few months that we had any sign of real growth in grass. This has been an expensive difficult year for farmers, especially dairy farmers. It is not only the amount that is involved in this levy that we are complaining about; not only are we again asking these people for still more money but are asking them to pay for a service which should be provided by the Department.
The Minister tried to score political points in the previous debate. He said I was hindering the eradication of disease. This was reported in the media but my reply was not reported. He asked how I proposed to pay for disease eradication. I repeat what I said then—that is his job. In the 1977 general election Fianna Fáil squandered money right, left and centre; they spent money as if they had the right to print it. They wanted to get into Government at any cost. That decision put our farmers in the position they are in now. They have to find this money. The Minister got himself into this difficulty and it is not my job to get him out of it. If a party deliberately jump into a pit from which there is no exit, they do not have the right to ask anybody, especially an opposition party, to get them out of it. That is my message to the Minister.
The Government must not expect the farmers to come up with new payments week after week to get them out of their difficulties. Since Fianna Fáil came into power we had to pay for 30-day tests, the 2 per cent levy, the multiplier has been raised to £120, valuation has been reduced to £40, agricultural grants have been removed over £40, lime subsidies have been removed, fertiliser subsidies have been removed; we have had increased levies at factories, bovine disease levies and this levy. If we carry on like this, where will we finish? Are we trying to discourage milk production? Are we trying to do what some of the EEC people would like us to do—slow down? They talk about butter mountains and so on, but we did not contribute even one pound of butter towards that mountain. We always sold our produce in the market place. Even if we had a surplus, it would not create as much as a pimple in the European market.
I appeal to the Minister of State who is a most reasonable man to work on his colleagues and point out that in his own part of the world especially, dairying is the one industry that can take Ireland out of her troubles. If we expand the dairying industry and encourage farmers, the spin-off will be far greater than from any levy that could be conceived. The amount of revenue to this State and additional employment created will be far greater than from any penalty imposed on a dairy producer. I appeal to the Minister of State to do as I ask—to shelve all these levies and have a good think about them during the recess. I am sure that, given time, the Government will come up with a much more satisfactory solution.
I am afraid that the people in dairying will slow down. As I have said previously, they cannot afford to get out of it but they may slow down their production. Young people contemplating going into dairying may have second thoughts. That is a pity, because Irish land could not be put to better use. These young farmers should be encouraged to expand, to borrow and to spend money in developing their dairy herds and improving the quality of their milk. We should be giving them incentives. You can lead an Irish farmer but you cannot drive him. Leadership is needed at the moment and leadership is not being given by the present Government to the young farmers. The man at the helm in agriculture should encourage them to advance, give them the necessary incentives and, more than anything else, initiate a long-term programme indicating to them what would be in it for them at the end of the day. At the moment they do not know whether they are coming or going.
It is all-important to put a stop to these levies and to tell the farmers that henceforth there will be no more levies and that on the contrary we will adopt a new approach. We should give them every possible encouragement within our financial constraints. We are limited in what we can do. We must go to the lending agencies and encourage them to make money available to the young farmers for developing their dairy herds at a reasonable charge. For those having difficulties with the present high interest rates we should endeavour to subsidise this interest until they get over the initial hump. Even talk about things like that from a Minister or a Minister of State would give encouragement. Instead of making political speeches, as he has done, the Minister should give some indication that this is the end of the line, and henceforth the coin will turn and that he is prepared as Minister to do X, Y and Z to help the dairy farmers along the road to success.
There is job potential in dairying and the industrial jobs that could be created therein cannot be measured. There could be numerous jobs in co-operatives, creameries, processing plants, transport, fertilisers and marketing. As well as that the number of extra people will mean additional consumption of the products. Therefore, I appeal to the Minister that, instead of discouraging, he will use his influence and adopt a positive approach because that is what is needed.
For goodness sake, do not ask us where the money is to come from if we do not impose levies. The Government are the people who spent it in 1977. It is their business to remedy the mistakes they have made. But let them not remedy them at the expense of the people who are working seven days a week for 12 months of the year to produce milk so that they can make enough money to pay their bills, to raise their families and also to create substantial employment in this land. I appeal to the Minister of State to use his influence with the Minister to stop all these levies now and, in God's name, to adopt a positive approach for the future for the Irish farmer before we end up in disaster.