When I reported progress last week I was referring to the very serious problem which faces the agricultural community and which has been referred to in very strong terms by the farming community in general. It is the need for very substantial increased State investment in agriculture. There should be no doubt in the mind of the Minister that whatever statistics he may consult or whatever statistics are allowed to flow freely from the printing press of Merrion Street this type of propaganda will not convince the farmers that they are in a period of unprecedented properity.
Those of us who represent constituencies in rural Ireland know that the one serious difficulty that faces the people today, particularly small farmers, is the lack of capital. The Minister will naturally quote statistics from the Agricultural Credit Corporation and other financial authorities which indicate that they are prepared to give, and have given, increased financial assistance to those engaged in agriculture. Perhaps substantial loans have been advanced to individual farmers but my plea is based on the experience which I have had as a Deputy and my experience in my professional capacity. Lack of credit is the most serious problem which faces these people. The Agricultural Credit Corporation have performed a very excellent service but they have only been scratching the surface.
If it is the intention to equip our farmers for EEC entry then they should be fully equipped. They should be in a position to stock their lands to their full capacity. They should be provided with the most modern farm buildings of every kind. There is a scheme of grants administered by the Department for the improvement of farm buildings. A great deal of good work has been done but there are still too many dilapidated farm buildings. The owners of these buildings know that grants are available but they also know that the grants would be insufficient to do the job properly. These farmers are not in a position to invest money in improving their out-offices. This is the explanation for the out-of-date farm buildings one sees all over the country.
Is it not true that a prosperous agricultural community makes for a prosperous urban community? When farmers have money they spend that money in the nearest town and that improves the business in that town. When agriculture is depressed less is bought over the counter. Less is taken from the shelves. There is less money in circulation. The decline in business in most of our towns today is due to the fact that the farmers are no longer prosperous; they have not got the money to spend. If we want to revive life in rural Ireland the only way in which that can be done is by substantial State investment in agriculture. I do not think the president of the NFA was wrong when he recently made a plea on television for an immediate capital injection into agriculture.
What explanation has the Minister to offer for failing to give our principal industry the financial injection it so urgently requires for its survival? In the ten year period from 1951 to 1961, 88,000 farmers and their families left the land; of this figure 72,000 left from farms of under 50 acres. From 1961 to 1970 something in the region of 80,000 left the land. Can the Minister offer any explanation for this very serious flight from the land? Is it not also true that the west of Ireland is almost denuded of its population? Leitrim, Roscommon and parts of Galway have been very seriously affected by the flight from the land. In my own constituency numbers have left the land in recent times. They have not left for the sake of adventure; they have left because they could no longer make a living on the land. Some of them were the sixth and seventh generations born and reared on the land. They were faced with bankruptcy. There were no prospects and so they left the land and moved into the urban areas. This is a sad commentary on the economic state of our country. The Government have done a certain amount of patchwork, but it is only patchwork. There is no long-term agricultural policy. There is no proper State investment in agriculture. There is no effort to build up confidence in those who are left on the land that there is a future for them on the land. There is no prospect of a decent standard of living to enable them to rear their families in accordance with Christian decency. I am keenly disappointed at the handling of the agricultural situation.
There is evidence that a deaf ear has been turned to the reasonable requests and pleas which have been made by the farming community. There is also evidence that the Government have failed to act on the warnings given them by those best qualified to give those warnings in relation to agriculture, namely, the farmers. There is evidence of the Government's failure to prevent the flight from the land which we have been experiencing since 1951.
On the eve of our entry into the EEC the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries has nothing better to offer than pious promises of better times to come. I wonder when the Government will become ashamed of telling the farmers that they will eventually be better off. Such promises and undertakings have been uttered by numerous Ministers for Agriculture and Fisheries but the facts are that people are leaving the land and those who remain are unhappy because of the future bleak prospects of a decent living standard.
Is it not time our agricultural policy was completely overhauled? Past experience should be used as a guideline in forming a new policy for the farming community. This country is designed to be an agricultural country and any efforts to convert it into an industrial country cannot possibly succeed. This country is probably one of the most beautiful countries on the face of the earth. We do not have too much hot or too much cold weather; we do not have too much rain or too much sunshine. The land is suitable for grazing and some of it is suitable for tillage. Our Creator placed us in the best possible geographical position and He gave us some of the best land in Europe, although we do have some poor quality land as well.
A vast acreage of land can be described as waste land, which comprises hedges, ditches, et cetera. In countries like Denmark and Germany one seldom sees even a perch of waste land. In Holland the Dutch have reclaimed thousands of acres of land. When is it proposed to utilise every single square yard of land to advantage here? I am sure the land project officers in each country must have statistics and information about the amount of what may be described as poor quality land which is not producing anything for the owner. I believe that a section of the Minister's Department, in conjunction with the advisory services and county committees of agriculture, should devote their energies to see how poor quality land, which is at present producing nothing, could produce some form of crop, vegetable or plant. Rates must be paid on land even if it is not producing anything and this is a liability not only to the owner but to the community as well.
Until every single square inch of arable land is producing we shall never be able to make land pay. The Department have a serious responsibility to ensure that every perch of land is utilised. This is the only way to end the alarming flight from the land which we have experienced during the last 40 years. In my opinion that is neither a good recommendation nor a satisfactory certificate for any country. Despite all the lip-service paid to the agricultural industry in the last 40 years the only achievement we can boast about is that the numbers employed on the land have been halved during that period.
A national farm survey was carried out some time ago and it was found that 100,000 farmers had family incomes of £208 per year. That is a very sad comment on the life of those on the land who have been described as the salt of the earth and who are, in the opinion of the House and the Government, the backbone of the country. How could a family exist on £208 per year with ever-rising rates and everincreasing cost of living, with the serious problems they have in regard to perhaps everything required on the farm because prices have been substantially increased? The Minister and his officials must be well aware that the lot of these farmers has improved very little since that survey was carried out.
Information available from various surveys indicates that 100,000 farmers and members of their families whose principal or sole occupation is farming have an income of £5 per week or less from farming. Is that not an extraordinary disclosure? Is it not the complete answer to the question I posed a few moments ago? In 40 years our farm population has been halved. One of the reasons is that so many farmers, small farmers especially, have under £208 per year income. I do not know how that tallies with the fact that there is practically no item which the small farmer has to buy that has not increased in price, in many cases by 25 or 40 per cent.
This applies to plough points, plough boards and even to the yard brush which is essential in a farmyard. It once cost 4s. 6d; today it costs 17s 6d. Farmers must have barbed wire to ensure they have proper fences. This could be bought for £1 8s: that price has now been doubled. If he requires cement he finds there has been an extraordinary increase. If a small farmer with a mowing machine must purchase a mowing knife its cost is exactly five times what it was in the late '50s or early '60s. The same applies to a sharpening stone which has increased in cost by almost 100 per cent. Spades and buckets, fork handles, plough discs, scythes, sole plates and other equipment such as slashers and shovels without which a farmer cannot successfully run a small holding are costing from 25 per cent to 70 per cent more and, as I said, the mowing knife has increased in cost by 500 per cent.
If, because of shortage of labour, the small farmer must use a tractor—and the time has gone when workers are readily available for agricultural work —he finds the cost has increased substantially. Emigration has taken thousands of people away and they find work abroad more profitable. Under trade union regulations in many cases they work only five days a week while in agriculture one must work seven days a week particularly if one is engaged in the dairying industry. Small farmers who have been obliged to try to equip their holdings with machinery discover that extraordinary increases have taken place in the price of tractors. The large farmer who could, at one time, purchase his six-cylinder combine for £2,165 must now pay almost £4,000 for the same combine. The small farmer who could buy a two-furrow plough for £62 must now pay up to £120 or £135 for the same article. This applies also to cultivators, mowing bars and agricultural machinery in general. The same situation applies with regard to the repair of machinery. Many farmers purchase second-hand tractors and other machines which require frequent repairs. In the late 1950s the charge per hour for repair of tractors was approximately 4s 6d; a sum of £1.50 or £1.70 per hour is now charged for repairs to agricultural machinery. Tractors and other types of machinery are essential to the small farmer because labour is not available, or is extremely difficult to obtain, but general running costs of such machinery are out of all proportion to the margin of profit of the dairying, livestock or tillage farmer.
The wages of the farm workers have been increased substantially. Nobody denies them the right to a decent wage because agricultural workers are highly skilled at their job. They are a tremendous asset to this country and they are entitled to the increases they have received. However, I should like to pay a tribute to the many farmers who have paid in excess of the wages recommended by the Agricultural Wages Board. There have been many instances where farmers treat their workers especially well when they have a good year in farming.
There is a very considerable degree of loyalty between the farmer and his worker. Many of our farms have been passed down from father to son and in many instances the same family of farm workers work on the one farm for many years. That bond of confidence is vital to the survival and success of Irish farming. It is rare that a farmer fails to pay his workers a fair wage or to treat them in a decent manner. Most of our farmers know the value of the good agricultural worker and, in turn, the worker appreciates the prospect of employment in his own locality. Because of their devotion and allegiance to their employers, many of the agricultural workers have the same interest in the land as have the owners.
If our farmers were better off, it would follow that the agricultural workers would also be better off but where the farmers have low living standards this reflects on the farm workers. All the heavy costs the agricultural community have had to bear have had the effect of weakening the industry and have been a factor in the decline in the population of rural Ireland.
With regard to running costs, the farmers have had to meet very severe increases in the cost of national health stamps, workmen's compensation and fire insurance, where in many instances rates have increased by 150 per cent. All these increases must be met from the profits made by the farmers. In the spring the farmer must sow his crops and fertilise the land; during the summer he must deal with the hay crop and in the autumn he will reap the return of his spring investment. The Irish farmer has no ambition to be a millionaire. All he wants to do is to leave the land in the autumn in better condition and obtain fair compensation for his work during the year. How depressing it must be for him to end up in a worse financial situation than when he started his farming operations at the beginning of the year. In a considerable number of cases this is what happens to small farmers if they have a bad year because, irrespective of the crops they produce, they must pay interest on overdrafts and pay many other costs also.
Like many other countries, Ireland is dependent on the weather to a considerable degree. For the past three or four years we have been fortunate in this respect but we have suffered in the past as a result of bad weather conditions. If the Minister puts himself in the position of the small farmer who has a bad year, he will appreciate the unfortunate position of the farmer. He is completely sunk for the following five years, at least if he has no other income to bring up his losses. I have not seen any statistics issued by the Department indicating how long it takes a farmer to recover from the financial disaster of a bad year. He certainly will not recover in two or three years. We have had a number of bad years for one reason or another.
I received a letter from a constituent this morning in which he referred to his expectations as a result of a contract he had with Erin Foods in the Tuam factory. What does the Minister propose to do? A farmer works hard with skill and industry from sunrise to nightfall to produce a crop of celery, beans, peas, brussel sprouts, wheat, beet, oats or barley, or some other crop. When he has produced that crop and has it ready for sale he finds there is no market for it. What does such a man do? To whom does he turn? With whom does he plead? There are many such cases in this country this year. Small farmers now have to sit and look at the crops they produced. They cannot sell them. They have been turned away. They have been rejected. Is not that poor encouragement for them?
What is wrong with our marketing system? If contracts are entered into and, if verbal commitments are entered into, what machinery is available in the Department to insure against financial disaster for the people who produce the crop and find there is no market for it? They pay the increased costs to which I have already referred. They pay the increased charges. This affects every home. This deplorable situation has arisen. The hands of many small farmers have been burned by Erin Foods this year. I hope the Minister will not allow this debate to conclude without giving an undertaking to the growers and customers of Erin Foods that he will consult with the Minister for Finance and order the setting up of a public inquiry with power to send for papers, persons and records. The Department should not try to conceal the fact that there is a need for an inquiry into the manner in which small farmers have been treated by Erin Foods.
I want to ask the Minister has there been a complete sell-out to foreign interests by Erin Foods of everything for which they were originally intended to stand. Can we have any confidence in the future activities of Erin Foods? I am particularly perturbed because of the serious position which has arisen in the town of Carlow which provides employment for quite a number of my constituents. I want to refer to the situation in Tuam and Carlow in relation to sugar beet. There have been quite a large number of redundancies in the Carlow area, in the Minister's own constituency. We are told that the processing of celery is likely to be discontinued with the result that a large number of my constituents are faced with unemployment and quite a number of farmers in the area who have produced crops for Erin Foods now find that their crops will no longer be required.
What changes have taken place in Erin Foods recently? What has happened? The Minister should make known to this House the circumstances under which Mr. Tony O'Reilly left. Were any recommendations or submissions made—and have they been on the files of Erin Foods for some time— by practical people who warned about the situation as far back as two and a half years ago? What foreign influences were at work to undermine the founddations of Erin Foods? I want the Minister to come clean and tell us have the suppliers of Erin Foods been sold out to foreign interests? Have they been let down the drain? Is some of the machinery which is used for food processing about to be dismantled and transferred to various parts of the country? Is some of it not to be reerected? Are Erin Foods going completely out of the processing of certain products?
Can the Minister tell the House what marketing machinery Erin Foods had to press their sales as against the imported product? I am told by a very reliable authority that the Erin Food products are as good as any products that were ever put on the shelves of any stores but, for some reason or other, no effort was made to press their sale. Therefore, let us have a full investigation and inquiry into the marketing activities of that organisation. Carlow is of concern to me because constituents of mine from the south end of my area are employed there. What will the position be if and when we enter the European Economic Community? I want to put on the record a quotation from the Evening Press of the 15th July, 1970. It is headed Sugar Problems in EEC and reads as follows:
The Common Market commission yesterday turned down a Dutch request that the community start unofficial contacts in Geneva with a view to participating in the international sugar agreement.
Commission vice-president Sicco Mansholt said that the six must first take steps to reduce sugar production inside the community which had a sugar surplus of 900,000 tons last year. Dr. Mansholt is to reintroduce proposals aimed at cutting down all the six's main farm surpluses to September.
The community stayed out of the international sugar agreement when it was concluded a year and a half ago, after failure to agree on export quotas. The six were seeking a minimum export quota of 600,000 tons for the community, but the other parties to the agreement would offer no more than 300,000 tons.
In the memorandum concerning sugar beet and circulated by the Minister we are told that the acreage under sugar beet in 1971 was 73,102 acres compared with 64,400 in 1970. In the event of our joining the EEC, what is to be the position of the beet growers? Irish farmers are being told that within the EEC they would receive record prices for livestock but let the Minister be honest and tell the sugar beet growers what proposals he has in mind for them and also what are the proposals for the survival of the small farmer, those with less than 50 acres for whom, according to Dr. Mansholt, there is no future in the EEC. Should not the small farmers be made fully aware of all the facts before they are asked to vote in a referendum?
There are many farmers in my constituency who produce sugar beet. Those in south Laois produce for the Carlow factory, while those in the Borris-in-Ossory area produce for the factory at Thurles and the Offaly producers supply the Tuam factory. I want the Minister to spell out clearly what is in store for these people within the EEC. There is no point in telling them that they must change to beef or cereal production. They have found that their land is suited to the production of sugar beet and, consequently, they have been able to produce the crop at a profit. From what I have read about the EEC, there will not be much place for these farmers within the Community. What other crop will they be able to produce that will be as profitable for them? Is there to be a campaign to restrict the acreage devoted to beet growers? If there is to be such a campaign, what alternative plans has the Minister in mind?
Not only is there uneasiness among the beet growers, but I am aware that there is much uneasiness on the part of the workers in the sugar factories. The reason for this is that they believe that as soon as we enter the EEC, the future prospects for them will be very bleak, first, because of the decrease in sugar consumption at home and, secondly, because of a surplus of sugar in the EEC countries. I hope the Minister will deal with these points when he is replying. Most of these workers have families to provide for and they should be told what their prospects are. I hope that the Department have considered all these matters very carefully. After the appearance in the Evening Press of the article I have quoted, I watched carefully for some comment from the Department but there was none. The beet growers and those concerned with the industry must be told whether, to use the industrial phrase, beet will be on the “redundancy” list.
I repeat that I represent a first-class agricultural constituency with a tradition of beet growing where uneasiness exists in relation to the prospects for sugar beet when we go into the EEC. For that reason, I ask the Minister, when he is replying, to clear up the position so that beet growers may know exactly where they stand. I am not happy, nor is my conscience very clear, in relation to the prospects of the beet producer and I can only rely on the Minister to tell this House and the country where the sugar beet industry stands in relation to our entry to the EEC.
I should like to refer to our bacon factories. There was a time when great emphasis was placed on the pig in rural Ireland. Time has brought changes and pigs are now produced by the hundred. Years ago every house in rural Ireland had a piggery at its rere. It took three to three and a half months from the time the bonham was purchased until it was 16 stone weight. Therefore, about three times a year there was an income from the pig. As we went abroad our attention was directed to the type of bacon that was required. People have now become more choosy about bacon and, in Britain and on the Continent, the consumer has become very critical. Nobody wants to buy fat bacon. An effort was made by the Department to enable us to market a better type of pig which would provide more lean bacon. That has been done, and, at the moment, the type of bacon exported by our factories is of a very high standard. Choice sides are selected for export while for home consumption we have mainly what is unfit for export.
I should like to hear from the Minister, and bacon factory workers would like to hear from him, what is to be the future of the small bacon factory. There is no decline in the number of pigs being produced and while one would like to see the pig producer benefit more by increased profits I wonder if there has been a full investigation of the elimination of the middleman in so far as that is possible? The pig industry is one of the largest employers in the country. There are over 100,000 pig producers in the Republic and more than 4,000 factory employees. The pig industry is a major earner of foreign currency. That is why, when we enter the EEC, there must be greater prospects for those engaged in it. We must endeavour to produce more pigs for export but are we placing too much emphasis on the mass production of pigs, or are we going to take steps to encourage the small farmers who have now gone out of pig production to go back in and make it a profitable exercise? A small farmer can produce some of his own feeding stuffs. We should have some new scheme which would give a greater incentive to the small man to devote some of his talents to pig production. Pig production is now in the hands of co-operatives or major production managers and owners. Bacon factories are very particular as to the type of pig they require, especially for export. The bacon factories are up to the standard of continental factories. There is a very substantial bacon factory in my home town which has been honoured on many occasions at the RDS as producing the highest quality bacon in this country. One of the finest bacon factories that I have ever been in is that at Tralee, County Kerry. It is one of the major factories. The factory in Mountmellick, while it might not be described as a major factory, does serve a very big community and a very wide area and produces, perhaps, the most profitable and best type of bacon side for export as well as for the home market.
There is a certain unease in relation to the administration and general working of small bacon factories. It should be possible to devise means whereby the Minister would guarantee the continuance of these factories and their future welfare. These factories serve the community well and earn foreign currency. In order to maintain these factories at the highest possible standard an effort should be made to bring the small man back into pig production. For some reason the number of pigs produced by the smaller producers is not anything like what it was some years ago. In order to increase production on the part of the small man the price of pig feed should be made economic. Most of the small producers got out of pig production because of the cost of feeding stuffs.
There should be a ratio between the price of pig feed and the price obtainable for the pig. If that were the case the producer could calculate his costs of production. The upward trend in pig feed prices has considerably damaged the industry. An Bord Gráin should be in a position to control the price of pig feed, in the interests of the industry. The pigs and bacon industry is of primary importance. Numerous small farmers who had engaged in pig production have ceased to do so because of the prohibitive price of pig feed. An effort should be made, by the Department or by An Bord Gráin, to have pig feed made available to small farmers who will engage in pig production. If, in addition to the larger producers such as co-operative societies and private producers of 400 to 500 pigs, the small farmer were producing pigs, a continued supply would be guaranteed for the bacon factories. Despite what has been said about grading, small pig producers have maintained production of an excellent type of pig which fulfilled all the requirements of the factories, such as the bacon factory at Tralee and factories owned by Messrs Henry Denny and Company, that have played such an important part in the development of our pig and bacon industry. I salute the managements of the major bacon factories for their high standard of efficiency and skill, which has been rewarded by recognition from consumers on the Continent and elsewhere.
I have often wondered if a more attractive scheme for the purchase of pigs could not be devised: if, for instance, the bacon factories could contract for the purchase of pigs. There is, of course, the danger that some producers might be left at the end of the queue but I suggest there might be a system through which pig producers voluntarily could register for the supply of pigs to their local factories. I am familiar with the factories at Tullamore and Mountmellick who produce best quality bacon and cater excellently for the producers in the area.
What I am getting at here is the point that I should like to see many more people engaged in the pig industry, especially small farmers who had to get out of production because of excessive cost of feed. Their return to the industry would mean that more small farmers also would have to engage in barley production.
I have often felt that there should be the closest co-operation between the producers and the factories. I realise that the relationship between them at present is reasonably satisfactory but even closer co-operation would mean that many small farmers who gave up pig production might be encouraged to return to it. With the increase in pig herds would come an improvement in the quality of pig products and this is most important because of our imminent accession to the Common Market. In this context the Minister will have to consider seriously giving all the help possible to both the factories and the producers. I trust that whenever they approach him the Minister will treat the factories with the consideration they deserve, especially if they require financial assistance for expansion and extension, which they will need to do to compete profitably in EEC conditions.
I am not happy with the state of the pig industry at the moment. As I have said, we need to encourage more people to participate in the production of more pigs. If this is to be done, the Minister must see to it that a scheme is devised whereby pig feed will be available at prices which will make it possible for small producers to see a profit at the end of the year. One of our great problems is that the incomes of all our farmers, but of small farmers in particular, lag so far behind those of other sectors in the economy. Small farmers are entitled to a well-planned system of production and the Department should undertake an intensive drive to ensure that from small viable farms we can have greater production. I have always felt that the farmers have been voices crying in the wilderness in so far as serious Government action was concerned and I am not satisfied that serious notice has been taken of the efforts they have made. They cannot close the gap between themselves and those engaged in employment in other sectors without assistance from the Government and in relation to the survey to which I have referred, as to the 100,000 farmers whose incomes are in the region of £5 per week, there is a considerable gap to be bridged between these farmers with their small holdings and the industrial worker with an income of £20 to £25 a week, perhaps, inclusive of overtime.
The farmer gets no overtime; he has no five-day week; and he has no eight-hour day. It is a seven-day week for him and during the busy seasons, in spring, and in summer at the hay, and again in the autumn, he must work in the region of 18 hours per day. If he is engaged in the dairying industry, he has a seven-day week and must rise at 4.30 or 5.30 in the morning. Many of them in that industry have had to depend on a continuous supply of electricity for their milking machines and this is why I think attention should be given to the special position of dairy farmers. They have suffered many setbacks in the past and have faced very grave losses from time to time. These dairy farmers are as hardworking a section of agricultural workers as there is in any part of the world and it is not because of lack of hard work, of drive, initiative or energy that they are not better off.
The Minister indicated that there were occasions when we had surplus milk, a surplus at different times which was difficult to market. I have always failed to understand why we have not availed of the market at our own doors for the consumption of a greater quantity of milk. I remember being on a deputation to some Minister—there have been so many Government changes in recent times that my memory fails to register which Minister it was—on this matter and I feel that a very substantial amount of milk could be consumed if every school gave a pint of milk per day to every child. A pint of milk is not very much and I have often wondered why greater success has not attended the efforts to promote greater milk consumption. The price of milk at present to very poor people is prohibitive. The cost of bottled milk has increased twice this year which means that for a household, the head of which may be unemployed, and which may have six or eight children, it is prohibitive and their children are unable fully to avail of the nourishment which is in milk. We are not good milk drinkers in this country.
Now that the Minister for Industry and Commerce is making all kinds of extraordinary sounds around Christmas, appealing to people to buy Irish, and we all join with him in these appeals, why can the Department not use television to a greater extent to make known the value of milk? There is an advertisement on television "Butter is the Cream" which is most effective; there is an advertisement in connection with margarine which is most effective. I feel that it would be a worthwhile investment if a substantial amount of money were provided by the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries or the Minister for Finance—the farmer does not care who provides it so long as he gets it—so as to ensure that all our children will have made available to them a reasonable supply of milk each day. It is correct to say that many schools have a hot meals scheme and there is a supply of soups, but there is nothing to prevent the supplying of at least one pint of milk per day.
It may be that we cannot have a continuous supply of milk for that purpose, but if that be so, there is something radically wrong somewhere, because I have known occasions in the past when it was difficult to find a market for milk and yet we had a market readily available, if properly organised. We have boards, committees and commissions to advise and to investigate and I think it would be a worthwhile exercise if the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries sat down with the Minister for Education and the Minister for Finance and hammered out a scheme which would result in the consumption of thousands of gallons of milk by the schoolchildren throughout the year. A greater campaign for the encouragement of the drinking of milk should be undertaken. If we spent more on advertising milk consumption we might have to spend less on the Department of Health.
The dairy farmers of the country deserve a high tribute. They have worked hard and have co-operated with the bovine tuberculosis and brucellosis eradication schemes. They have had to undertake heavy financial commitments on the installation of water, the modernisation of farm buildings and the installation of milk coolers and other equipment necessary for the proper running of their dairies. A dairy farmer's income is derived from the sale of milk and of cattle. Cattle must be replaced at a high cost without interfering with the milk supplies to the local creameries. Assistance is necessary to enable the dairy farmers to reach the highest standards of production. Milk and cattle prices must be maintained. The living standards of the industrious farmers should be high. The increases in milk prices recently announced are insufficient to meet the overhead costs of electricity, milking machines, cooling equipment, petrol and the wear and tear on vehicles which make frequent journeys to the creameries. There is also the everincreasing burden of rates to be met.
Dairy farmers deserve encouragement. Their living standards should be high. An injection of many million pounds is necessary to enable the farmers to improve their milk production. Do farmers allow for transport costs at so many pence per mile? Money must be given to the farmers who are giving such excellent service to the country.
The cheese manufactured at Mitchelstown and elsewhere is of a very high standard. On the Continent there is Italian, French and Danish cheese. There must be something wrong with our export drive and with our cheese marketing when we are unable to sell more of our excellent cheese. A merchant in Jackson Heights in New York made arrangements some years ago for the products of Clover Meats, Killybegs frozen fish, and Galtee cheese to be displayed at his store. As soon as these goods were displayed in the windows there were queues outside of people wishing to purchase these goods. There were further queues into that store to ask the management when more supplies of that cheese and the other products to which I have referred would be available. There was no continuity of supply. Maybe conditions have improved in recent times. Irish cheese has found favour with American and continental connoisseurs. With better marketing, better advertising and proper presentation of our cheese Mitchelstown would leave continental cheese streets behind.
A substantial sum should be provided for the reorganisation of machinery for the marketing of Irish agricultural produce. I do not know whether it is Córas Tráchtála that is responsible for the American market or what machinery is there for marketing our produce in Britain and on the Continent. However, the people concerned should be awakened from their slumbers; we have the commodity, and all that is needed is the marketing organisation.
I wonder what happened the plan of the Department of Agriculture for increasing gradually the number of cows and other stock. There was to be an all-out drive to encourage people to increase their dairying stock. This is still desirable so that farmers can get a profitable return for the money, labour and skill they are investing in the industry.
The farming community is handicapped because rural areas are still underdeveloped. It is necessary to have a comprehensive rural development programme. There is plenty of talk, but no action. An ounce of action is worth a ton of talk. The rural community who are our main producers and the backbone of the country do not seem to enjoy the same living standards as those in other sectors, in highly paid professions or in top-class industrial employment. Farmers have a right to demand better living standards. We do not seek anything better than is enjoyed in other walks of life, but it is a sad reflection on our country that the farming community, especially the owners of uneconomic holdings, should lag so far behind other sections of the community.
Our consciences must be seriously disturbed when we consult the national surveys of the past and read what they have revealed. We should ask ourselves if we have seriously got down to the task of bringing those on the land, farmers and farm workers, up to a reasonable standard of living so that they may at least compete with professional people, public servants and those in industry. They are still lagging far behind. Is the farmer always to be the poor man? Is he always to be looked on as the last man to receive substantial State investment to enable him to develop to the full?
The farmer has the land and he has the means of working it but he is only allowed to commence on a project by being blindfolded and handcuffed. He is held back for the want of the State help and assistance to which he is entitled if he is to produce for export and if the gap between himself and other sectors of the community is to be closed. This cannot be done unless a substantial effort is made by the Government.
I am glad there has been a change of heart on the part of the Government in recent times. We now find the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries sitting down and talking to farmers around a table. Perhaps the less said about the past the better. We should all start anew. We should have a properly set-up agricultural advisory council appointed by the vocational organisations interested in agriculture and recommendations should be submitted by farmers, who are the best judges of what they want and for submitting remedies for their own problems. I trust that the Minister or any future Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries will always be available to talk with farming organisations, with every branch of the agricultural community and also every farmer who has a common-sense contribution to make. There is a lot to be learned from talking with farmers; they can understand the Minister's problems and he can understand their problems. They have made an unanswerable case for substantial investment in their industry. Discussions should take place until such time as the Minister has overcome all the problems involved.
A high degree of protection against foreign control in the processing and marketing of agricultural produce should be given. The word "foreigner" is looked on as a dirty word today. I am not ashamed or afraid to say that my concern is with the Irish farmer. I want to see Irish farmers getting every possible protection and safeguard in so far as the processing and marketing of their agricultural produce is concerned. I do not want to see any foreign concern engaged in agriculture using their activities in this country to the detriment of Irish farmers. The Minister has a definite duty in this regard.
Agricultural produce should be sold to the very best financial advantage. Farmers are entitled to this. We have been discussing the plight of agriculture, the flight from the land and the standard of living of farmers. We should all admit that Irish farmers today carry more than their fair share of taxation and that they have a right to some degree at least of serious thought in relation to the unfair share of taxation, such as rates, which places a very heavy burden on them. Rates are a very serious handicap to landowners, whether they are engaged in horse breeding, dairying, tillage or livestock in general.
