asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if his attention has been drawn to the views, expressed by the EC Commission spokesman (details supplied) in the context of the Community's position paper for the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, that the EC had to move towards a new system in which farmers' income would derive partly from direct income aid rather than price supports; the social implications of this for rural Ireland; and if it implies a situation of permanent dependancy on cash transfers for a majority of Irish farmers.
Written Answers. - Farmers' Income.
48.
In the comprehensive Commission proposals put before GATT in regard to the agricultural negotiations in the Uruguay Round, it is indicated that, in the longer term, measures to get production into line with what markets can absorb could be backed up by aid to farmers to offset any loss of earnings from market support. Given the present oversupply of many products on world markets and the inevitability of some stabilising and market balancing measures, it was prudent for the Commission in its proposals to GATT to include a provision regarding the safeguarding of producers' incomes.
A proposal on direct income aids to producers is, of course, before the Council of Ministers. It will be my endeavour to ensure that any decision adopted by the Council in the matter will be in the long term interests of Irish agriculture, and that, taken together with future Community decisions on such matters as set aside and rural development generally, it will provide adequate support and a range of options to farmers in this country.