FG Agriculture and Food

Agriculture and Seafood

The agri-food sector has huge potential to contribute to export-led economic recovery. Agri-food exports are worth almost €8 billion sustaining over 150,000 jobs and 128,000 farms. But the agri-food industry has seen farming income fall by 40% between 2007 and 2009, three times more than the EU average. Farm incomes have recovered somewhat in the past year but the average still rests at approximately €16,500, significantly lower than the average industrial wage. Fine Gael will provide agri-food businesses with the environment needed to position Ireland as a world leader in the food industry.

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Comet Pub

Comet Pub at Swords Road – famous local pub

Stephen Collins on Gormley and Poolbeg Incinerator

I am in favour of incineration. The decisions are made. My reservation is in the site of the incinerator which I believe should have been near the Red Cow Junction on the Naas Road/ M50. This would have minimised the truck traffic into the core city. Otherwise, I think three TDs in South East are playing nimbism and opportunism or moral funk and Gormley is just being John Gormley. I respect John Gormley but I think that he is wrong on incineration. He has argued about the size of the plant etc and there are problems with the volume of waste needed for efficiency and details of contracts but where propaganda begins and ends on this subject is difficult to delineate. As you all know, I am in the Collins Party so:

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Finglas Environment Report

ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT

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Farm Incomes 2009 – Sorry Scene

Farm Incomes 2009

• Average family farm income was €11,968
• Less than 10% have incomes > €25,000
• Only 6.3% have incomes >€40,000
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Food and Agriculture – Public health benefits of reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions.

80% of agricultural emissions arise from Livestock – methane and nitrous oxide.

Agriculturally-induced change in land use – deforestation, overgrazing, and conversion of pasture to arable land – accounts for a further 6 – 17% of global greenhouse gas emissions. 50% of food-related greenhouse-gas emissions are generated during farming. These include nitrous oxide and methane from livestock, carbon dioxide from deforestation especially; Nitrous oxide comes from pasture land and arable land used to grow feed crops and methane from the gut of ruminant animals such as cattle and sheep. Pork chicken and eggs produce less CO2 and are more efficient at feed conversion.

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