I move:
That a sum not exceeding £158,127,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December 1990, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Agriculture and Food, including certain services administered by that Office, and of the Irish Land Commission, and for payment of certain grants, subsidies and sundry grants-in-aid.
As Ireland's largest industry, the performance of agriculture is a key component of our overall economic growth strategy. I am, therefore, pleased to be able to report that the success of the Government's agriculture and food policies were clearly evident in the very strong performance of agriculture in 1989.
While there have been significant price reductions in 1990 compared with 1989 for the main sectors, the overall effect will be offset, to some extent, by an increase in the volume of production of beef, sheep and pigs. However, taking all the factors together some drop in aggregate farm income this year appears likely. This drop must viewed against an increase of 52 per cent in farm income since 1986, compared with inflation of 10 per cent over the same period. It must also be stressed that the drop is due to changed market circumstances. I have used every opportunity to press the Commission to maximise Community supports to counterbalance the effects of the market downturn. This pressure is already bearing considerable fruit. Furthermore I am seeking to ensure that grants and premium payments which are important for farm income are paid with the least delay possible.
This year's Estimate is for a gross amount of over £313 million. This does not represent anything like the total of my Department's overall spending as some £1,000 million funded by the European Community is being paid by my Department to farmers and agri-business in 1990 and a further £500 million funded from borrowings will be spent on the purchase of products into intervention. In 1990, between domestic and EC funds, my Department will disburse over £1,800 million. This underlines the strong national and Community commitment to Irish agriculture.
As President of the Council of Agriculture Ministers for the first half of 1990, my primary responsibility has been to ensure the adoption of the EC Commission's price proposals for 1990-91. This was achieved on 27 April last following prolonged negotiations with the value of the final package, as adopted, worth in excess of £90 million annually to Irish producers. The principal benefits result from green £ adjustments and improved intervention arrangements — involving significantly reduced payment delays for milk, beef and cereals. However, the element which gives me greatest satisfaction from a personal point of view is undoubtedly the rural world element which formed an integral part of the overall package. That the agreement on this year's farm prices was achieved so comparatively early and against a background of Communitywide difficulty in a number of product sectors, is, I believe, a tribute both to Ireland's Presidency and to the Farm Council as a whole. However, this early agreement itself entails tangible benefits for farmers in as much as it will engender increased confidence throughout the industry and facilitate improved management and planning for the year ahead.
The ongoing, steady progress towards completion of the Internal Market has itself had an important bearing upon the shape and content of our Presidency. In view of this I identified progress on harmonisation of Community legislation in the animal and plant health areas as meriting the highest priority, whether viewed from an EC or a national perspective. I, therefore, devoted considerable effort to advancing proposals for the adoption of a non-vaccination policy throughout the Community for the control of foot and mouth disease and for the establishment of an EC veterinary fund as a contingency against the propagation of major animal disease outbreaks. I am particularly pleased, therefore, to report that the June Council agreed a major veterinary package which included both these elements in addition to a proposal for the abolition of border checks on live animals.
Community-wide measures were also agreed in respect of trade in live horses, live poultry and pig semen while rules which will facilitate Ireland's very valuable live export trade in cattle through the establishment of a leukosis free position, were also agreed. Of major importance to consumers too is the Council's adoption of marketing controls in relation to veterinary products as well as specific tolerance levels for these products in foodstuffs. The Agriculture Council adopted more Internal Market proposals during our Presidency than it did in any previous six month period and in all 134 legislative proposals were adopted, far in excess of any previous Presidency.
BSE was also a focus of attention at EC level. Unilateral actions against imports of UK beef led to an unprecedented situation within the European Community, which posed a real danger to Community cohesion and harmony in matters of trade. I immediately called an emergency meeting of the Agriculture Council which met on 6 June to deal with the problem and after long and difficult negotiations, we managed to achieve a solution which was acceptable all round and which enabled the unilateral actions to be immediately ended. This result headed off what would have been a trade crisis in Europe the effect of which would have extended way beyond agriculture.
In so far as the present round of GATT multilateral trade negotiations are concerned, as I have already indicated in this House, the Community approach is to provide that overall supports for agriculture are subject to more clear cut rules and are fixed at levels whereby more balanced markets and a more market oriented trading system obtain. During my period as President of the Council I ensured that the Agriculture Council was fully involved in developing and maintaining the Community's negotiating position. I was very pleased that the Council unanimously confirmed the Community's global approach at its meetings in April and June, declared that the basic principles of the Common Agricultural Policy were not negotiable and stressed that full credit should be obtained for past reform measures. The Council also decided that Agriculture Ministers will continue to be involved to the greatest possible extent in the negotiations. The European solidarity which we were able to bring about through unanimous decisions — never an easy achievement at the Council of Ministers — was a major factor in resisting the American demands for elimination of agriculture supports in the EC and the fact is that for the first time ever at the Houston meeting the Americans have dropped their demand for elimination of support and have recognised the need for a balanced and global approach which has always been the EC position. The negotiations can now continue and the contribution of our Presidency will have been seen to have been very significant.
Much has been made of various comments on the GATT over the last few days. Perhaps too much attention has been devoted to what was not, of course, a negotiating session and, even in that context, to what were off-stage remarks. The real negotiations have yet to take place. It is important to remember that in these negotiations, the Community has a clear and unambiguous position. We are prepared to negotiate to achieve a more sensible and coherent world trading order for agriculture. This would benefit all GATT members. We are not prepared to negotiate away the principles or mechanisms of the CAP.
Let me stress that there is no case for a Special Summit arising from the Houston conclusions. Quite the contrary, as even a request for such a meeting would mistakenly convey the notion that these conclusions reflected the American demand for the elimination of supports which they certainly do not.
I am entirely satisfied that the Irish Presidency of the Agriculture Council has identified, in a realistic and balanced manner, those priorities which are in the best interest of the Community as a whole and in our own best interest as committed participants in the new Europe which is emerging. Following our stewardship of the Community's agricultural affairs, we will be seen to have bequeathed to our successors a record of solid achievement and not least as regards realisation of Single Market objectives. I am gratified that, as a consequence of my Presidency, the lot of the Community's citizens — farmers and non-farmers alike — will have been substantially improved arising from the completion of a comprehensive range of rural development, environmental and consumer oriented measures.
Officials of my Department were required to chair over 40 different committees and their success in this mammoth task has been praised by officials and Ministers alike. For my own part I am, of course, gratified by the tributes we have received from the President of the Commission, the incoming President of the Council and the Secretary General of the Council Secretariat.
I have already dealt in broad outline with the outturn for agriculture and food in 1989, the outlook for this year and with the broad scope of the Estimates. In the restricted time available there is not much opportunity to deal with these issues much further but there are two specific subheads — D5 Organic Farming and L1 Farm Investment — to which I would like to refer because of particular developments in those areas. In the light of Deputies' remarks I will respond on other subheads and other agricultural issues as necessary.
Environmental concern has also been a major theme of my Presidency and accordingly, I have given a ready welcome to proposals in this regard which have emerged from the Commission. An example of such is a measure which aims to establish a uniform European framework for the production, inspection and labelling of foodstuffs produced organically without the use of synthetic materials. During the Presidency, very substantial progress was achieved in respect of this difficult and complex proposal and, in fact, at the Council on 25 and 26 June it was agreed in principle, subject to the opinion of the European Parliament and the clearance of some outstanding technical points.
Ireland, of course, is in a particularly advantageous position to benefit from the growing, contemporary interest in alternative farming practices. Accordingly, my Department's organic unit is now actively exploring how best to exploit this development and to capitalise on our image as a reliable source of sound, wholesome and natural food, in particular, as the completion of the Single Market comes even nearer. On this we are working closely with the Organic Growers Association which is being supported financially from the subhead. We are also developing programmes for research, education, advice and demonstration projects in the organic sector.
At the outset of my Presidency of the Agriculture Council, I emphasised my personal interest in achieving improved economic, social and environmental living conditions for the Community's rural society. I have briefly referred already to the rural world measures which formed part of this year's prices agreement. At national level, we have consistently taken the view that the CAP must be informed by social considerations and obviously this attitude is all the more important having regard to the various output restraints and market stabilisers which have been put in place over recent years. As a Presidency we have maintained our historic commitment to developing rural society and keeping farming families on the land.
Farming will, or course, continue to be the mainstay of the rural economy. However, we must recognise that, especially with the introduction of stabilisers and the reorientation of the Common Agricultural Policy, we must look increasingly to non-traditional activities and to the non-agricultural sector to provide the income and job opportunities required to maintain a stable rural community. All elements of the Community Support Framework, including the nonagriculture measures i.e. the tourism, industry and peripherality programmes will have a major impact on rural areas. In addition, however, it will be necessary to encourage initiatives not covered by other programmes and these are provided for in the operational programme for rural development. I am proposing to the Commission that the programme will cover such areas as alternative enterprises and a national agri-tourism scheme and increased funding for marketing by CBF. It will also cover rural infrastructural items such as fishery harbours and rural roads and will provide also the mechanism for the development of human resources through the funding of the training and educational activities carried out by Teagasc. I hope to have European Community approval to introduce the various measures within the next few months.
As the House knows, the Government in October 1988 launched a pilot programme for integrated rural development in twelve selected areas. The programme is based on the principle of involving local communities in selecting their own development priorities and then in undertaking the responsibility to work towards achieving those aspirations. At the end of the two-year pilot period in October 1990, an assessment will be made that will enable us to decide on the design of a nationwide programme for the development of all rural areas. The results of the pilot scheme so far are very encouraging, and indeed, in order to ensure that the momentum which has been generated is not lost while the programme is being assessed after October, I have decided to extend the operation of the programme until the end of the year in order to ensure that there is no lacuna between the ending of the pilot programme and the putting in place of follow-up arrangements. The elaboration of such arrangements should be greatly helped by the recently signalled Community initiative on rural development.
In conclusion I am confident that the Government's current economic strategy, coupled with a practical and businesslike response from those involved in the industry, will prove the right recipe for our future success. I am sorry that the time allowed, permitted me to give a very brief summary of all the activities in the Department. I will listen carefully to the debate and take up some other points that may arise.
