Fianna Fáil would destroy Irish agriculture again given half a chance – Heydon

Fine Gael TD for Kildare South, and Chair of the Fine Gael Committee on Agriculture, Martin Heydon, has said that Fianna Fáil would destroy Irish agriculture again given half a chance.

“Rural Ireland is slowly getting back on its feet after the economic devastation Fianna Fáil wreaked upon this country and the Government has a plan to ensure that the economic recovery spreads to all corners of Ireland. It is interesting to see that Fianna Fáil is welcoming the Government’s Food Wise 2025 strategy in their new agriculture policy paper and acknowledging the vision of the strategy and it’s ambitious jobs and exports targets.

“Fine Gael in Government has prioritised agriculture and agri-food as a key engine of economic growth. We have focused on opening up new global markets for exports and are expanding markets for our farmers and producers. Food Wise 2025 is a ten year strategy to grow the agri-food sector targeting an 85% increase in the value of exports to €19 billion and an additional 23,000 jobs.

“By contrast, average farm incomes fell by 40% during the last three years that Fianna Fáil was in government. In 2009 and 2010, under Fianna Fáil, employment in agriculture, forestry and fishing fell by almost 21,000, the second largest decrease in any sector. It was Fianna Fáil that shut down the Irish sugar industry with their plan to convert once-thriving sugar factories into housing estates.

“Under Fine Gael’s stewardship, the agri-food sectors are recovering and beginning to thrive once more, and young people now see agriculture as a viable career again. We have made farming more accessible through the most comprehensive reform of agri-taxation measures, to attract younger farmers and assist with the transfer of land. This year we began the rollout of a €4 billion Rural Development Programme, supporting rural communities.

“Under the Irish Presidency of the EU in 2013, Minister Simon Coveney negotiated a new Common Agriculture Programme which provides €12.5 billion to Irish farmers and includes changes to the single farm payment scheme with approximately 60,000 farmers receiving an increase in farm payments, benefitting the lowest paid.

“Fianna Fáil’s answer to challenging times for Irish agriculture was free cheese. Fine Gael is standing up for rural Ireland. We’re determined to spread the recovery throughout Ireland. Agri-food is thriving, tourism is rebounding strongly and we’re supporting small businesses and entrepreneurs. Fine Gael sees the agriculture sector as a priority for our plan to spread the recovery to every corner of the country.”