A warning has been issued by the leader of Ireland's young farmers that they could become militant if action was not taken to make their profession more viable.
Mr T.J. Maher, president of Macra na Feirme, told the Minister for Agriculture and Food that current decisions discriminated against young entrants to farming.
Speaking to 2,000 delegates at the organisation's annual conference in Limerick at the weekend, he said the sugar-beet regime, underfunding of the agricultural colleges and the lack of investment capital were some examples of discrimination against them.
Mr Maher said young farmers had expected to receive 5,000 gallons each from the restructured milk quota system under Agenda 2000. However, they had received only a paltry 1,710 gallons. The Minister now had an opportunity to focus 11.5 million gallons on young producers, and they were awaiting his decision, he said.
Mr Maher also attacked the quota production system and said his members were totally dissatisfied with the current situation where they were being forced to pay excessive prices for quota rights to "sofa" producers.
In his reply, Mr Walsh said the Government was encouraging young people into farming by ensuring they were tailored to the demands of a changing society.
Schemes like the early-retirement scheme, which allows more young farmers take over land, had been amended so part-time work could also be carried on outside the farm, and installation grants had been increased.
He said the Government was aware of the difficulties facing farmers and was committed to keeping a vibrant farming sector in place to support rural economies.
Prof Seamus Sheehy advised young people to look twice before entering full-time farming. Never before, he said, had off-farm opportunities been better while the road ahead was a rocky one for the industry.
Irish agriculture, he said, was not well placed to meet the challenges of further trade liberalisation and enlargement of the EU which would take place at our expense.
The EU was handing over international market share of dairy products to countries which were free to expand without the limitations of quotas.