I wish you, a Cheann Comhairle, the staff here in the Dáil, including the gardaí, and all here in the Dáil a very happy Christmas.

Is the Tánaiste aware of the many crises hitting farmers recently? I will start this week with knackeries, where a strike is ongoing, leaving dead animals on the grounds of farms for days, open to dogs and vermin attack. There is also the mental health stress of farmers and their families having to endure the smell and sight for days. The renderers have had massive increases charged on them and no longer find it viable to collect fallen animals. The Minister, Deputy McConalogue, has stated that acquiring a burial licence for dead animals comes with strict environmental conditions. Where are the environmental concerns about having dead animals in farmers' yards for days on end? It is shocking, but everyone seems to be standing back rather than creating a solution.

I move on to the ICBF, which, at the stroke of a pen, overnight, wiped out farmers' incomes by up to 44%, costing these mainly suckler farmers tens of thousands of euro by undervaluing their bulls. Farmers who were doing everything by the ICBF book for ten years were met with an overnight change that destroyed their farm practices and their income.

Also in the past two weeks, many farmers have been told that their farm payments under ACRES will not be paid to them, as promised in November and December. This means that 27,000 farmers, 60%, will not get their payments now but may in February or later. This is a payment out time for farmers, who have promised co-ops, contractors and others that they would have the money to pay the bills and now they cannot. It is not they will not; they simply cannot.

Look at the nitrates crisis into which farmers have been plunged. Thousands of farmers will have to cull cattle in the new year to comply with these extreme guidelines. I have spoken to these farmers, who are pleading for some short-term movement with the Department. They were misled, they feel, by the senior politicians visiting parts of west Cork giving hope of some movement that never materialised. If this movement is not forthcoming, why not a compensation package for the losses incurred by these farmers early next year?

If that is not enough of a hammer blow by this Government on agriculture, the sneaky new VAT reclaim changes will put any future or existing farm building project in doubt. This inability of unregistered farmers to draw back VAT on certain farm equipment, which they could do until recently, is the difference between many farm projects going ahead and not going ahead. This is nothing but a direct attack on future investment in farms. In my constituency clinic in Clonakilty last Saturday, a young farmer had his full plans to build a new round milking parlour, feed bins, bulk tanks plus further works. It was going to cost him €360,000, with €82,800 of that in VAT, which he was able to reclaim before this change but now cannot reclaim. That has left the whole of that farm investment project paused.

What would the Tánaiste say to that young farmer? Does the Tánaiste accept this is an effort by the Government to shut down good farm practices? If I am wrong, how does he see a solution to these five issues?

I thank the Deputy for raising multiple issues under the overall umbrella of farming and agriculture. The fundamental objective of the Government is to protect farm family incomes. The most effective mechanism to do that is through the Common Agricultural Policy. We negotiated a Common Agricultural Policy for the period 2023-27, with a strong focus on supporting family farms regardless of size or location. We are looking at close to €10 billion in total between EU and Exchequer funding that will support over 120,000 farm families under the new CAP. There is a 50% increase in Pillar 2 rural development funding compared with the last CAP as well as a fivefold increase in support for organic farmers and, for the first time, specific supports for women farmers. In the first year of the new CAP, some €1.2 billion has been paid to farmers. Payments will continue to issue to farmers this month across a number of schemes.

The Deputy raised knackeries, fallen animals and so forth. I think he was implying, perhaps, that the environmental standards are too high. He might clarify that. We need to be cautious there. We have to have strong environmental standards in respect of the disposal of animals. These days we cannot play fast and loose with that. I did not quite get the context in which he referred to that but he might clarify that.

In respect of the meeting in west Cork, I think the Deputy referred to my going down there-----

I was not there.

He said "senior politicians".

I was not invited.

I know he was not there but I was there. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan facilitated it.

Did it deliver?

Actually, it was a very constructive meeting. We went to see how farmers in the Timoleague-Kilbrittain area were dealing with a research project with Teagasc in respect of water quality.

We spent a good three hours there. It was informative and insightful.

You would make a poor Santa Claus.

The bottom line in the discussion afterwards was about how we avoid losing the derogation or going below 220 kg. There was much realism at that meeting. Many people realised the reality of the situation. It was critical that, nationally, we take every effort, working with the farming community, to make sure we do not go below the 220 kg limit and that we retain that at the time of the next review. It is important we work collectively and in partnership with the farming community to achieve that.

Deputy Collins knows that ACRES was initially planned to take in applicants from two tranches, with 30,000 in tranche 1. The Government made a decision to accept all valid applications submitted last year. There are up to 46,000 farmers actively in the scheme, if not more. That has created pressure on the Department in respect of the payments. Department officials are working flat-out to get advance payments to ACRES farmers, commencing on 18 December. Up to 992 ACRES participants in County Cork will be included in that. Everything is being done to pay, as soon as possible, all ACRES participants who clear prepayment checks. I think it is a good sign that there was such high demand for ACRES. It shows farmers believe it is worthwhile and impactful. It has proved very popular. We took the right decision to expand it and to include as many farmers as possible.

I thank the Tánaiste for his response. I need to explain to him about the knackeries where the dead animals are on the ground, so there is no point in talking about strict environmental rules. Sadly, they are fallen animals that have died over the last two weeks. There is an ongoing dispute that the Minister has not personally intervened in which he has to personally intervene in. There is stress and environmental fallout from having a fallen animal. I listened to the Tánaiste's response and I do not think he realises the crisis that is going on with these farmers. I just mentioned five of them and I do not see any solution. The knackery issue with the dead animals stays unresolved. Farmers losing 44% of their income due to the ICBF's incompetence remains unresolved. The Tánaiste said that some farmers are being paid under ACRES but most will not be paid until February. There is a rumour that it might be March or April for some of them. That is a hammer blow to some farmers. The movement on the nitrates is stuck.

The Tánaiste might have gone down but he would want to go back to meet the farmers at Timoleague, Kilbrittain and Ballyroe, because there is absolute fury that there is no movement and there has been no chance of a compensation package for at least the beginning of this year, if not any other time. The Tánaiste did not speak about the VAT issue, which would stop any future investment in farms which need urgent action. What is going to happen with these critical issues, as farmers are furious with the Government's inaction that is putting their livelihoods at risk?

The Deputy raised a multiplicity of issues. The farm organisations are being invited to meet the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Finance to discuss the VAT issue next week. The Department works with the farming organisations and farmers on these issues.

What about the existing-----

Please.

The Department is also working to resolve the issue in respect of the knackery situation, the fallen animals and the issues that have arisen. I am confident it can get a working resolution of that issue for farmers more generally.

Our whole approach is to get payments to farmers to facilitate this. That is why we have allocated the resources. We are not out to get anybody or undermine anybody. I think ACRES has been a successful initiative. The evidence of that is the number of people who have applied. I have no doubt that the Department will do everything it possibly can. The extra numbers were significant. It was originally planned for 30,000. There are now 46,000 to 50,000 involved. That, by definition, increases the pressure on the Department.