Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 July 2018
9. Deputy Bobby Aylward asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the level of direct support for the suckler cow herd will be increased to €200 per cow under the next CAP; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31481/18]
View answerExamination of appropriate measures to support all agri-food sectors, including the suckler sector, is under way in my Department in preparation for the next iteration of the CAP. The measures adopted will be informed by stakeholder consultation on the needs of the sector to develop in an economically and environmentally sustainable way, as well as the available budget and structure of the new CAP when it is finalised.
The beef data and genomics programme, BDGP, is currently the main support specifically targeted for the suckler sector and provides Irish beef farmers with some €300 million in funding over the current rural development programme period. This scheme is an agri-environmental measure to improve the environmental sustainability of the national suckler herd by increasing genetic merit within the herd.
My Department has rolled out a range of schemes as part of the €4 billion rural development programme up to 2020.
In addition to the beef data genomics programme, BDGP, other supports available for suckler farmers under Pillar 2 of the CAP include the green low-carbon agri-environment, GLAS, and areas of natural constraint, ANC, schemes and knowledge transfer groups. Suckler farmers also benefit from the basic payment scheme and greening payments under Pillar 1 of CAP.
I am strongly of the view that the current range of supports available to suckler farmers, together with ensuring access to as many markets as possible for live animals and beef exports, are appropriate supports for the continued development of the sector. National farm survey data suggests that suckler farmers receive support equivalent to approximately €500 per suckler cow on average.
I will continue to argue for as strong a CAP budget as possible post 2020. I am committed to ensuring that suckler farmers continue to receive strong support in the next CAP. It is of note that the current draft proposals make provision for coupled payments under Pillar 1. However, as envisaged in the current draft and as was the case in the current round, any coupled payment would require a corresponding decrease in the funding available for the basic payment.
My view is that payments should support and encourage suckler farmers to make the best decisions possible to improve the profitability and economic and environmental efficiency of their farming system.
I tabled this question to highlight the necessity of prioritising the suckler sector through targeted supports for farmers who are under threat on many fronts. Although our farmers are well known for producing some of the best beef in the world, they continue to depend exclusively on CAP direct payments for their livelihood and have an average income of just under €13,000, according to recent figures provided by Teagasc.
In recent years, Fianna Fáil has campaigned for a €200 payment policy for the suckler cow herd but Fine Gael has continually turned a blind eye to that proposal. The Government is underestimating the importance of supporting the national suckler herd and the farmers and rural communities who rely on the sector. The national suckler cow herd, comprising almost 1 million animals, is a vital component of Ireland’s rural economy and a wealth enabler, with every €1 of support provided to suckler farmers generating over €4 of economic activity in rural villages, towns and parishes according to research carried out by University College Dublin, UCD, on behalf of the Irish Farmers Association, IFA. Suckler farm families underpin annual Irish beef exports worth €2.5 billion. In light of the threats Brexit and a potential Mercosur deal pose to the income of suckler farmers, the Government must immediately seek European Union recognition of the danger for suckler farmers and request the necessary funding supports.
The Department underspent by €106 million in 2016 and €78 million in 2017. That substantial amount of money should be used to support the vital suckler cow industry.
I thank the Deputy. I am unsure whether he is a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and Marine which in its report published today addresses continued support for the BGDP as a measure to support the suckler sector and which, interestingly, in the context of climate change, recommends that I promote all schemes and practices orientated toward the goal of carbon neutrality. In the context of the cross-party support of the committee for the BGDP, I do not agree with the proposal for a coupled payment for one million suckler cows which would cost €200 million per annum and may drive numbers at the expense of the quality being promoted through BGDP.
The Department has overspent rather than underspent under the rural development programme. Unless the Deputy proposes closing a current scheme, I do not see how the proposed coupled payment of €200 per sucker cow would be funded. That is the missing chapter in the proposals of the Deputy or others who promote that payment.
The big challenge we are facing is the juggernaut of climate change. If we promote numbers at the expense of quality, that will be made more difficult.
We need the suckler cow industry and I have pointed out why we need to support it. It is one thing to discuss the cost of the carbon footprint and so on but how does that argument fit into the proposed importation of beef from Brazil, Argentina or elsewhere to Europe to subsidise what could be produced here? It is nonsense. The Minister discussed maintaining a viable farming suckler cow scheme. If we do not support such schemes, the sector will collapse because farmers are not making enough money to survive. The Minister knows that, as do I. We must provide support. Every €1 of support provided to suckler farmers generates over €4 of economic activity in rural villages, towns and parishes. That makes economic sense. There is an underspend of money in the Department.
There is not.
That money should be used to maintain an industry which is very important to this country. If we do not support it, then it will disappear. The dairy industry has been going well but the beef industry is under severe pressure. All Deputies know that.
If the Deputy is predicating this scheme on an alleged underspend in the Department, I invite him to read the record of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and Marine, before which I outlined in detail-----
The facts are there.
-----that we do not have an underspend in the rural development programme. We are over-committed by approximately €100 million over its lifetime. If the Deputy's case is entirely predicated on the underspend, it is obvious that the case he is promoting is based on foundations of sand. I acknowledge and share his view and that of most Members that the suckler cow is the backbone of the beef industry and we must find ways to ensure that those who are most challenged within that sector get more supports. That is a priority in the context of the next round of CAP.
The Deputy stated that there should be a coupled payment of €200 per suckler cow, at a total cost of €200 million. He has not stated how he would square that circle in the context of the overspend on the rural development programme. His calculations do not add up.
