Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 May 2010
40 Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will comment on the disparity between the fall in Irish farm income in the past year when compared to other EU countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22038/10]
View answerEUROSTAT report that agricultural income per annual work unit fell by 11.6% in the EU in 2009. This figure varied from –32.2% in Hungary to +7.8% in Malta. Ireland was one of 21 Member States that reported a decrease in income per annual work units, while only six counties reported an increase in income. The fall in factor income in 2009 was mainly attributed to a sharp fall (-10.5%) in output value at basic prices, which was due almost exclusively to lower prices (-9.7%). There was a relatively small fall in volume (-0.9%). Some of the drop in the output value was off-set by a decline in the value of intermediate consumption which fell by 9.2% which was due to a combination of falling prices (-6.7%) and lower volume (-2.7%).
This was the general trend across EU Member States. In Ireland the situation was exacerbated by a number of factors including our dependence on a number of key commodities, dairy in particular, as well as unfavourable exchange rate movements with sterling. The dairy sector faced particularly difficult trading conditions in 2009, with the output value of the dairy sector down 32.5% in Ireland. Output value for most of the other livestock sectors also declined. This was a common trend across EU Member States with 25 countries recording lower values for animal output in 2009. Due to Ireland's dependence on these commodities the impact on output was more dramatic here. Also a weak sterling resulted in a loss in export value as well as increased competitive pressures on export markets which all would have put downward pressure on domestic prices.
During 2009 the reactivation of a range of support measures, including public intervention, private storage and export refunds, helped to stabilise the market later in the year. The dairy market situation has improved considerably since the autumn and more recently has shown signs of a robust recovery with increased commodity prices on world and EU markets, and a consequent rise in milk prices.
