I move:
That Seanad Éireann notes the supply services and purposes to which sums have been appropriated in the Appropriation Act, 1991.
I appreciate that in a debate like this a speaker can range over a very wide area but I intend to confine my remarks to a few items in which I am interested.
At present, our society is facing great challenges. The huge numbers out of work demand an exceptional employment performance and the Government must therefore, make every effort to safeguard existing jobs and encourage the creation of new jobs. At the same time on the European scene great changes have taken place in recent times and are still taking place. The Iron Curtain and the Cold War no longer exist. The Berlin Wall has disappeared and Germany is reunited. The last bastions of the Communist states has disappeared and Communism, as we knew it, has disappeared. The European Community is embarking on historic ventures — the creation of a Single Market from January 1993 and the establishment of political, economic and monetary union. All this will present us with tremendous opportunity but it will equally test our policies and attitudes to European affairs. If we make the right decisions now we can share in the economic prosperity that a Single Market will create and make progress in regard to employment which is the single and greatest social problem facing the Government at present.
The overall package contained in the budget which was introduced recently will give a considerable stimulus to employment. In consultation with the social partners the Government have undertaken a series of special initiatives to confront the problem of rising unemployment and to accelerate the provision of new employment. Substantial funds will be provided by the European Commission from 1 February for a new employment subsidy scheme and a new in-company training scheme. Under the employment subsidy scheme, a subsidy of £54 per week for 12 months will be provided for 15,000 additional employees who have been on the unemployment register for at least two months. The incompany job training scheme will also provide training on the employers' premises for up to 10,000 people who have been on the unemployment register for at least two months. This is a very important development and will perhaps become a permanent feature of the Irish training system in the future.
Overall expenditure on those two schemes is estimated to come to £70 million in the years 1992 and 1993. Of this, the European Social Fund will contribute up to some £60 million with the remainder coming from Irish employers and the Exchequer. The schemes will undoubtedly help us to improve our unemployment situation and there will be other schemes also put in place by public agencies and, hopefully, some impact will be made on the unemployment figures during the years 1992 and 1993.
We have the problem in rural areas of farmers leaving the land because of the appalling fall in their incomes in recent years. Those farmers are forced to seek employment and compete with others in the labour market. We saw in the recent census of population the serious imbalance between one part of the country and another. The population in the west has declined drastically while the population in the east has increased. That trend will continue unless the Government and the people in the west take drastic action to stop it. This was highlighted recently by the bishops at meetings which have been held all over the west and which have been very well attended by people striving to find a solution to this problem.
We in the west are disadvantaged in many ways. We are far from ports and airports and it costs more to transport goods across the country. We do not have the infrastructure or the road system they have in other parts of the country nor do we have an industrial base. Is it any wonder that we are worried about the GATT and Common Agricultural Policy negotiations taking place in Europe? The outcome of those negotiations will have very far reaching effects on our farmers. If the United States proposals were implemented, Irish farmers would stand to lose £900 million per year. It would drive thousands of farmers on to the dole and create all kinds of social problems for them.
The family farm, as we know, is part and parcel of our social structure and must be preserved at all costs. We have 70,000 low income farm families. Some of them are struggling to survive on an income of £2,400 per annum and less. What is to happen to those farmers if the Americans get their way and all subsidies are phased out by 1996? Europe must defend its family farm structure against the current onslaught by the factory farms and the agri-food conglomerates of the United States of America.
The Common Agricultural Policy has served the European Community well over the past 20 years. We have a continuous supply of the best food in the world at a price that is at an ever decreasing percentage of the household budget. Ten million people are employed on the land of Europe. The removal of subsidies as demanded by the United States, would drive millions of farmers off the land and create social problems. In spite of what the Americans say, their agriculture is highly subsidised. According to the OECD report, the United States spent, $21,000 per farmer in 1988. This compares with $10,000 for the European Community. To add to this, the United States Secretary for Agriculture announced a $10 billion write off for some United States farmers recently; the farmers affected each get $50,000. Why then are the United States complaining about subsidies paid to European farmers? If Irish farmers are to survive they will have to be subsidised.
I hope that in the near future we will see the export markets to the Middle East opened up for our cattle and beef trade again. This would ease the current situation in the cattle trade. I compliment the Government, the farming organisations and all the agencies who are trying hard to have this market reopened.
In the Estimates for Public Services, 1992, Vote 32 — Agriculture and Food — I am pleased to see that this Estimate has increased from £452.3 million to £472.8 million, an increase of 5 per cent on 1991. I sincerely hope that all outstanding grants due to farmers will be paid shortly. We know that some of those grants are due for quite a while and that farmers are anxiously waiting for the cheque to arrive. I hope the Minister will take advantage of the increased Vote for Agriculture and Food in the Estimate and that those grants will be paid in the very near future.
During this year also, many farmers will benefit from extension and reclassification of their lands. For the first time 13,000 farmers will benefit from the extension of the less favoured areas and a further 16,000 farmers will benefit from the reclassification of their areas. This, when one considers the higher rates of grant paid should be an attractive bonus for those farmers.
Agriculture, as we all know, is our main industry and it is important that every effort be made to prime the engine and ensure that our farmers are given the standard of living to which they are entitled, like every other section of the community.
I was very pleased that the former Minister for Agriculture and Food, Deputy Woods, gave a commitment that the research centre at Belclare and the agricultural college in Athenry will be maintained. It would be criminal if either of these were closed down when there is such need at this time for research. I am delighted he gave that commitment. He visited those two centres and was very impressed. He listened to the pleas from public representatives on all sides of the political divide not just from Galway but from Mayo and Roscommon because these counties use those two centres.
I hope Teagase will maintain their centres at Headford, Gort and Loughrea. It is very important they do so and provide a better service for the farmers of County Galway. I am very pleased that in the budget £1 million extra was allocated to Teagasc and this should help them overcome the serious financial problems they faced at present.
We all know that good technical and financial advice is of critical importance to small farmers to help them remain competitive. The provision of an extra £1 million for those services will help to do that. The Minister re-affirmed his commitment to protect and safeguard the advisory, training and research services. It is important that farmers have access to such services in these difficult times when prices are falling and there is a surplus of produce.
I said at the outset we were now facing great challenges. We have a new Government and I wish them every success. I believe they have the will and capacity to face the challenge that confronts them. Difficult decisions will have to be taken if we are to participate fully in economic and monetary union and reap the benefit that will flow from it. We will be faced with a referendum later this year. The Government will ask the people to endorse the decisions taken at Maastricht. It is very important for us and for Europe because it would affect the whole of Europe and the decisions taken at Maastricht could not go ahead.
The Government have an enormous task facing them and we have seen some unexpected problems arise in the last few days. I know they have the will and capacity to tackle those problems. I hope the year ahead will be successful and fruitful and that we will see a big dent made in the frightening unemployment figures that are the cancer in our society at present. I hope the Government will spare no effort in trying to resolve that serious social problem because it tears the heart out of families to see their young people emigrating. We know this recession is hitting not just Ireland but America and other great nations such as England where Irish boys and girls were almost guaranteed jobs. Now those countries are finding it just as difficult as we are to overcome the unemployment problem that faces them.
I wish the Government every success and hope, for all our sakes, that they will make every effort to tackle the serious problems facing us at present.