I appreciate the opportunity to raise an important matter concerning the future well-being of approximately 3,000 farmers in Longford and 1,500 in Leitrim. There are four agricultural advisers in County Longford, and the contract of two of them will be terminated at the end of this month. I understand the intention of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry is to transfer those two advisers to another county or counties, thus leaving two advisers to provide a service for 3,000 farmers engaged in dairying, cattle fattening and sheep production. It is impossible for two advisers to provide an adequate advisory service to 3,000 farmers in that regard.
There is one adviser in Leitrim whose contract will expire at the end of February. I understand it is the Department's intention to transfer that gentleman to some other county. The two advisers in County Longford are agricultural science graduates who joined Teagasc in February 1993, when the need for such advisory service for smallholders was acute, since the common agricultural policy reform programme had to be implemented. Resulting from the employment of those two extra advisers a significantly enhanced programme of work was put in place by the county staff and the county agricultural officer — at the time, Mr. Michael Lennon — whose targets specified over the following three years have been reached and, in many cases, surpassed.
At this time of enormous change in methods of agricultural production within members states of the European Union and elsewhere, in particular in Eastern Europe, farmers need a well staffed agricultural advisory service that has recourse to the most modern technology and research available. In the past that research was undertaken by An Foras Talúntais, and is now provided by the research arm of Teagasc. Agricultural researchers undertook tremendous work, were second to none and led the field in many research projects worldwide over the past 15 to 20 years.
While many people give lip service to the issue, when it comes to the preservation of rural communities, small farms and so on, the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry is now afforded an opportunity to really demonstrate its practical prowess in reinstating the contracts of those advisers. If they do not do so, in the county of Longford there will be two advisers only endeavouring to cater for the welfare of some 3,000 farmers, a quite impossible task. The Department would be well advised to close down Teagasc in Longford if it proposes reducing the numbers of advisory staff to two.
The county of Longford is in my constituency. I worked as an agricultural adviser in County Leitrim for many years and know the soil types in both counties. Admittedly there is some very good land in both, although most is of an inferior quality. Farmers have enough to contend with in normal circumstances to eke out a living but, to do so with such difficult soil conditions, makes their task almost impossible. The removal of advisory services from such farmers would constitute the kiss of death for them.
I spoke about the general level of research available nationwide, which rates among the best worldwide, but there is no point in having research unless its fruits can be clearly seen and reaped at farm level. The conduit between researchers and farmers who will eventually implement the results of such research are those agricultural advisers without whom, never the twain — researchers and farmers — shall meet.
I implore the Minister to be reasonable, to use common sense and renew the contracts of those two advisers in Longford and the one in County Leitrim.
