Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This legislation is obviously a welcome advance. Farming has become a part-time occupation for many. Farmers need to have a job along with it in order to have an income. Central to that is the architecture we have around payments, assistance and having schemes in place to assist farmers. Very often, because of weather and the nature and topography of the land that people are trying to farm, issues will arise. Sometimes farmers fall foul of rules they never intended to fall foul of and find themselves in situations where they are frozen out of schemes or unable to meet the requirements. Then we have these appeals processes in place.

When inspections and appeals occur, farmers find it very difficult because they delays their payments, which are vital to them continuing in the occupation they have chosen. We must ensure that we have a process which, more than anything else, is efficient. A decision should be made quickly in order that farmers can get their payments in a timely manner. That is the big problem many people have. This legislation to monitor that and try to bring a sense of focus to appeals is very welcome. There are some little changes which will be put forward that may even enhance. I hope the Minister will consider some of those, especially in the context of how the independence of the board can be assured. It is not enough for something to have the appearance of being independent; it must be absolutely independent, and people must have assurances around that.

My colleague Deputy Conway-Walsh mentioned ACRES, which is a major problem for many farmers, certainly in my part of the world. There was a meeting about this issue at Drumshanbo Mart three or four weeks ago. The meeting was organised by the IFA. There was quite a large attendance. Many farmers had received the interim payment of €5,000 but they still did not know what their score was for their land. They were still in abeyance as to what the situation would be. Would they end up having to pay money back? Where was it? The scores were supposed to have been carried out last summer. There were difficulties with that as well because the technology involved required the uploading of the process to the Department’s website. Often out in the kind of landscape we have in Leitrim, Sligo and Donegal, which is quite mountainous, there is very little Internet access. That was a problem for the people who were organising it and delivering on the scheme.

Apart from that, the issue is farmers do not know what is happening. They have not got any sense of when they will receive the balancing payment. I am aware the Minister announced it is going to come shortly. Farmers still do not know what their score is. They do not know what fields they have work to do on that they could improve in order to raise their score. They do not know where they are because they have not got the details. For most farmers – this was reflected at the meeting I attended in Drumshanbo – the feeling was the Department had come out with this scheme in a rush, had not thought it through and had not got the rules and regulations in places. The officials were unsure of what they were doing. If the Department comes across like that to farmers, it is very difficult for them to comply. They do not know what they are being asked to comply with. That is a difficulty with ACRES. The delays are going to have an adverse effect because this is a five-year scheme. As it is running on with all this happening, we in a situation where some farmers have not got scores for their land and do not know where they stand. Coming into the winter months, they certainly will not be able to know what biodiversity measures they can take to enhance that. There needs to be an acceptance there should be a great deal more flexibility in how this scheme works.

We do not want to see a situation where farmers in ACRES are the first ones who must find their way through the legislation we are discussing. We want to get the schemes right in the beginning so we do not have situations where farmers are going into appeals or into problems in future. As the Minister knows, the big issue for most people in the farming industry is that their income has been dwindling and has been cut back for many years. This is especially true for those in the west and north west who depend on suckling and sheep farming. We have serious problems there. The number of people choosing to stay farming the land is decreasing all the time. That is a reflection of the difficulties they have in getting an income from farming and that must be recognised.

If this legislation can enhance the situation, it will be very welcome. However, there is still much work to be done on the other side of it to ensure that people will not need to avail of what is provided for in the legislation.

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