Martin Kenny Motion 136
Published: 1 March, 2008
While the rural economy is and must be made up of more than just agriculture; one simple fact remains true.
When farming is prosperous the rural economy is vibrant.
So the focal point of government policy for rural Ireland should be to ensure that farming and particularly, the meat products sector, is returning good money for the best quality premium products.
Alternative crops, enterprises and niche products are in need of development and attention.
But concentrated effort for the west of Ireland, must be on our main stay, meat production, that is where the greatest impact can still be achieved.
Irish beef is among the best in the world, fully traceable, hormone free and grass fed, where the animal is roaming as is their natural way, all adding to a premium product, yet the price the farmer has to take, does not give due recognition to the labour, expertise and the feeding cost the Irish farmer has put into the product. This must change.
The real reform in the food and agriculture sector, needs to be at the marketing and distribution level.
Ireland has a few big processors that control the price to the farmer, this issue has to be tackled and fair play established. Now other factors also affect fair play and this brings me to 'Trade Reform'.
• Mandalson's world trade 'reform'
From the US to the EU, politics these times is riddled with the word 'reform', every government's proposal for good or evil is baptised as a reform, reform bills, reform measures, even reform treaties like the Lisbon treaty, and the reform of world trade is another one, a big one.
I am proposing that the word reform be given another, alternative, additional, meaning in the dictionary, reading something like:
Reform: Fooling the public into believing that a policy or proposal is for the greater good, when it is really about the elimination of human decency, good practice and fair play, by fixing the market for the exclusive profit of the global supper wealthy.
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandalson's 'World Trade Reform', will for one, force Irish beef production out of business, as cheaper beef from around the world would flood the EU market.
Some might say, 'so what, consumers deserve cheap food' and that's fine, as long as it's good food and safe food and not part of a cartel to keep our farmers out of the market.
Dispensing with fairness, good practice and due care, under the guise of 'Free Trade Reform', will not serve the greater good, nor EU consumers or farmers and particularly not world food standards.
At the end of the day Mandalson's 'reforms' are to fix the market for the profit of the global supper wealthy and of course that other great 'reform', the Lisbon Treaty, will give Mr Mandalson even more power if it is implemented.
There are many other obstacles to agriculture and rural development; the broadband situation in rural Ireland is a national scandal.
But there are solutions.
Rural Ireland needs access to more investment capital.
That's Government's responsibility. It should be working now to establish a meaningful pool of investment capital targeted at rural development and agriculture.
Support: Motion 136
Work to build Prosperous rural communities.
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