Martin Ferris (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Nothing has come out of it. Political pressure needs to be put on so they will have to listen to the people and the producer, the person at the bottom of the ladder. It is up to us as elected representatives to ensure that is the case. They were quite willing to take the money from the people's pockets in order to bail themselves out. What have they done in order to reciprocate for the people most in need, the victims of their reckless lending? They were encouraged to lend to these farm producers.

We need Government action on this crisis as it will not resolve itself and farmers cannot be allowed to go under because of a lack of support. There is an air of quiet desperation out there among farmers who are being harassed by banks because they are in trouble with repayments. The Government should be looking out for farmers and supporting them. It is the job of the Minister and whoever comes after him to look after Irish agriculture. Vulture funds are in the here and now and they are threatening Irish farmers already. We need to challenge the vulture funds, where so-called non-performing loans are being sold at a knock-down price. They become involved in the eviction of people from their homes and farms.

I am fed up to the back teeth hearing that the market rules everything and that it is somehow just and right that somebody could lose their house or farm in an international financial deal that has no benefit for this country or its people. How can that be fair? These questions must be asked and answered. I am fed up hearing about profitability for banks and how we must protect it while we leave Irish people at the mercy of international financial vultures. That is what is happening now. Who benefits from that? Where does the Minister stand on vulture funds and loans being sold at a fraction of their cost while people, through no fault of their own, default on those loans and are shown no flexibility, understanding or mercy by the banks that the same people bailed out?

Some of those people are beef farmers, a sector that has seen one crisis after another over the past few years. I welcome that the Minister is trying to ensure we have a live trade output and I hope the deal with Turkey comes to fruition. The Minister's response to the beef issue was to set up the beef forum, which, according to farmers, has turned out to be ineffective and nothing more than a talking shop.

What will the Minister say about the latest leaks about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, TTIP, published by Greenpeace? Will the US comply with European standards in agriculture? I doubt it. The leaked documents indicate that the US side is being influenced by chemical companies and commercial fuel firms. Here again is "big brother" influencing a negotiation that we as a small country will be compelled to follow if Europe capitulates to the demands of TTIP. It is a large and uncontrollable process. The Minister is telling us nothing and perhaps he knows nothing about the deal. It is not his job but what will happen to Irish agriculture under TTIP? We need to know the consequences. I was part of the last agricultural committee and it was one of the few committees to contribute to the debate on TTIP. I commend all Deputies from every persuasion who contributed to it. Deputy Deering spoke in that debate. Other committees did not even bother to debate it or were not encouraged to do so, which is wrong. This affects everybody.

Nobody has mentioned the comprehensive economic trade agreement with Canada and we need answers on it. What are its consequences given that it will take in genetically modified organism, GMO, production? The GMO aspect is a motivation but we in Europe are supposed to be outside of that. I have raised the matter of GMO production since the early 2000s, when I first came here. I was told that my party should bring motions through county councils to make those areas GMO-free and I am thankful that has worked to some degree. Is it true, for example, that the US wants to oblige the EU to inform American industries of planned regulation and allow them to influence the regulatory process to the same extent as European industries? These are serious questions.

There are other issues in rural Ireland besides farming that need urgent attention. The Government is stripping services and neglecting infrastructure and this has an effect. We want all farming to thrive and prosper, and there are many people living in rural Ireland who do not farm but who are dependent on farming. The way rural Ireland has been managed or mismanaged means there is much desperation in parts of our country. If the young people have not already gone, they are forgotten and left with poverty of opportunity. Could the Minister imagine being 19 or 20 in a small village in rural Ireland and not being able to find a job? What if there is no transport to allow that person to commute or if access to places where there might be a job or further education is limited? Does the Minister realise that in many areas where there are jobs-----

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