In 2002 public expenditure by the Department of Agriculture and Food amounted to €2.8 billion. A record €1.6 billion of this was spent on direct payments to farmers which accounted for nearly 69% of aggregate farm income and an average payment of €13,000 per farmer. This very high level of public expenditure underlines the commitment of the Government to the Irish agri-food sector. At the same time, it should be remembered that farming is a cyclical business and is dependent on a number of factors, including the weather and returns from the market, both of which contributed to the overall income decline in 2002.
With regard to those areas within my responsibility, I will continue to support farm incomes by maximising the level of direct payments to farmers, ensuring that the EU Commission utilises all available market management tools to support the markets and providing the best possible development framework for the sector.
While bearing in mind that farming and farm incomes are market related and that farmers are not wage earners in the traditional sense, there is always scope for the farm organisations to contribute to the development and improvement of policies that have an impact on farm incomes. While emphasis may be placed at times on social partnership talks and the role of the farming pillar – I acknowledge this is important – it is often forgotten that my Department and its officials have always welcomed the input of farmers, farm organisations, the agri-food industry, consumers and the public into the departmental policy-making process on an ongoing basis. The policies adopted and market environment can assist farming significantly.