Probably more will have to close. I did not believe it was possible to close any more, but it appears the Government can achieve the impossible.
The Government said that Bord Bia would promote Irish food abroad, which is important, and Bord Glais would promote the vegetable industry, but I note there is a reference in one of today's newspapers to amalgamating and streamlining those agencies. The Department seems to be led by the so-called three wise men.
The Government said that the beef industry is underpinned by the national beef assurance scheme. When I was preparing to speak on this motion, I wondered where I would get material. I was disappointed to realise we would have only 120 minutes to deal with this matter. It is not in my nature to be critical, but I noted the swarm of material on this issue relating to schemes that have not been implemented. I noted that the beef industry was underpinned by the national beef assurance scheme, which was passed in the Dáil in 1998, but which has not been fully implemented, not to mention the national dairy herd certification scheme, which has also not been implemented. Our dairy industry lost out last year, of which the Minister, given that he comes from Cork, will be aware. That scheme must be brought back on stream. There was a the drop in dairy prices – at a rough estimate, €32 million was lost in the past year to the economy of County Cork, which is responsible for about 25% of our diary output. That loss is equivalent to in the region of 1,200 to 1,300 industrial jobs losses.
The Government spoke about protecting the environment. It allocated €234 million for the REPS, but only spent €175 million on it. That scheme is co-funded by the EU, which means that we lost €30 million in that regard. The Government referred to making REPS a more attractive scheme, but I have yet to see that happen. People are not taking part because the inputs have increased and it is not worth their while doing it.
The Minister spoke about assisting in farm investment, yet there was a cutback of €23 million in this scheme which deals with farm waste management and other structural deficits that need to be addressed to improve our competitiveness.
The national development plan reminds me of the Treaty of Limerick and the famous quote: "The treaty broken, ere the ink wherewith 'twas writ could dry." It is the same with the national development plan and the programme for Government. Like the national spatial strategy, there is nothing in the national development plan for agriculture. Even if there were, it would not matter because none of it is being implemented.
The Government said that, as a matter of urgency, we should consider introducing tax incentives to encourage young farmers to lease land. I know the IFA made a submission on this to the Minister before the budget. I did not see anything on it in the budget, but perhaps there will be something in the Finance Bill. However, from what I have seen to date, I would not hold out much hope.
The budget abolished roll-over relief. The "A lot done" section of the Fianna Fáil manifesto clearly outlined how it had set out a nice agreement on capital gains and capital acquisitions tax for people who had land taken from them or who sold it. However, the "More to do" section of the manifesto did not include the fact that Fianna Fáil would abolish tax relief. The Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, flew through that when making his Budget Statement. Members of the Government were not aware of it. The Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, who was party to the agreement, certainly was not aware of it, although he tried to distance himself from it in the following weeks.
The straw that broke the camel's back was the Dáil resolution increasing the bovine diseases levies. It did not amount to much monetarily –€10 million – but it was a breach of faith. This was an agreement into which the IFA and the farming community had entered with the former Minister, Ivan Yates, in 1996, when the system was changed and the levies decreased. The current Government raised them again by 1c on milk and an additional €2 on animals.
That struck a chord with people. Here was a community that wanted assistance and sought something that could be provided by the Government, and all that was given was the abolition of roll-over relief. Everyone should pay their taxes but there is something fundamentally wrong about a person having to pay tax on the proceeds of the sale of an asset, the disposal of which he or she is required to do against his or her will. Will the Minister use his influence between now and the publication of the Finance Bill to address that difficulty?
As regards the tractorcade, I do not know how the Minister did it but he turned a low-key, borderline successful protest into a remarkable success. It was another fantastic achievement. The Minister said the average farm income was €45,000. I sincerely hope we will not negotiate in Brussels in the months ahead on the basis of that figure. Teagasc came up with the figure of €15,800. We should put this issue to bed.
I do not know who advised the Minister or whether he took it upon himself to undermine the protest. Had he been upfront on the first day, recognised that there were difficulties and said he would do his best to solve them, the protest would never have been as successful as it was. He made the protest.
We are having this debate to show that the Government made many commitments which it did not keep. The Ministers of State, Deputies Aylward and Treacy, acknowledge this privately. As a confidence building measure, the Minister should revisit the bovine diseases levies issue as an act of good faith. I know he will have the support of the honourable Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, because through the rhetoric during the tractorcade, he certainly gave the impression that he would support it. The Minister will also have the support of the honourable Deputy Ned O'Keeffe. He stood up on a tractor in Mitchelstown and I hope he stands up for the farming community now by speaking in favour of this proposal.
It is only a question of €10 million. The revised bovine diseases levies were introduced on the basis of the Exchequer returns forecasts. The figures turned out to be much better than anticipated. To revise the levies would send out a positive signal that could result in farmers entering the partnership agreement. It is important that they be a part of it. I understand why they are not because they feel there is no point in being part of it if they get nothing from the Government. The Minister should revise the levies.
The problems of agriculture do not begin and end with the Minister. I remember in the previous Dáil as junior Fine Gael spokesperson on defence that the Minister for Defence, Deputy Michael Smith, made a living out of telling us that the helicopters were coming and that the contract had supposedly been signed with Sikorsky. The new Government had barely been formed before he was out of the traps saying the helicopters were not coming. Then the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Deputy Walsh, made his announcement. He is being used as a crude instrument of government to hit the vulnerable agricultural community. The Taoiseach's thinking is that agriculture should be hit hard to obtain money from it.
Come June of next year after the EU Presidency, the Taoiseach will reshuffle his Cabinet and I would like to think he would retain the Minister, Deputy Walsh, in some form. However, he will probably cast around to identify someone with a lean and hungry look. He may go over the Healy Pass to south Kerry and choose the Minister, Deputy O'Donoghue, who has of late been giving dissertations on dinosaurs, a subject with which he would be familiar being a dinosaur on the political landscape himself. Unfortunately, unlike prehistoric dinosaurs, he has left considerable evidence of his tenure in office in the form of crime figures. The Taoiseach may also go further up the road and choose the Minister, Deputy Ó Cuív. Many in the rural community like him, he would go down well with them and the difficulties the Government has created for the farming community might be forgotten.
I would say to the agricultural community not to be fooled and to remember the hard times and how the Government put the boot in. They should not fall for the rhetoric of Government and blame the Minister, Deputy Walsh, for their problems. They are of the Government's making because it took a conscious decision to remove money from the sector.