Denis Naughten
Ceist:39 Mr. Naughten asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the action he intends to take to address the fall in farm incomes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9060/03]
Written Answers - Farm Incomes.
In 2002 aggregate farm income fell by 8.9% to €2,381million, following increases of 4.2% in 2001 and 8.6% in 2000. The fall was caused by a combination of unprecedented bad weather, a drop in beef slaughterings from their high levels in 2001 and lower market returns in areas such as dairying.
In 2002 public expenditure by my Department amounted to €2.9 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 nearly €13,000 per farmer submitting area aid applications. This very high level of public expenditure underlines the commitment of this Government to the Irish agri-food sector.
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.
The income problems of 2002 stemmed from a variety of factors some of which are external. The issue now is to seek to improve the situation and in particular the market environment. 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.
Question No. 40 answered with Question No. 12.