Martin Kenny
Sligo-Leitrim · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“A debate here for a couple of hours is fine, but I remember being involved in some of the deep talks with people in the early days of the peace process. We sat in rooms and talked about reconciliation. I met Garret FitzGerald on many occasions at the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation.”
“Of course, we have the areas of natural constraint payments that most farmers on this side of the Border avail of. Unfortunately, those payments are no longer available in the North. Sinn Féin has recommended that the payments should be restored. Farmers need support. Brexit took their support away.”
“I welcome this debate. Such a debate has been needed for quite a long time. The reality is that for many people, the issue of the financial implications of Irish unity has been used as a put-down to try to smother or put a stop to argument and debate. This is a welcome way in which we can open that up.”
“I hope Government will reflect on that and recognise that we need to build a process. There is an energy for reunification among ordinary people the length and breadth of the country. This is about the physical constraints, but is also about identity. Many people who live on this island have a British identity.”
“As the Taoiseach is aware, for many years people with mental health issues have been attending emergency departments in our hospitals. Many of them get very poor outcomes. They experience long delays and end up on trolleys. Sometimes they are referred for short-term stays or to community services, which offer little or no service.”
“I appreciate all that and the farmers forum is a positive advancement on things, but we are back to the problem at the very core of this issue, which is that the chair of Bord Bia has been using imported beef from Brazil as part of his mix to sell product.”
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“If they got that investment, they would flourish and rail is key to that happening. We have a lot of work to do in that respect. The rail review was an all-island review, which was very welcome. It looked at all parts of the entire island. It talked about the need for decarbonisation and developing alternative modes of transport that are less carbon-intensive than those we are currently using. An awful lot of freight is moved by road on trucks. Much of that could be moved on rail. Our public transport services need to be enhanced. Most Deputies from the west, including me, drive up and down to Dublin every day. If I came from Sligo by train, the train home would be long gone by the time I was finished here. That is the problem. The last train leaves at 7 p.m. That need to change. I know Mr.”
“I congratulate the Minister of State on his appointment. It is good to have someone from the west in this role. I know he has always had a strong commitment to the development of the western rail corridor. It always strikes me that the western rail corridor only extends halfway up the west. We need to bring it the rest of the way. It is clear from the map produced with the proposals in the rail review that there is a massive gap. From north Mayo upwards, there is nothing. We need to ensure that changes. A fundamental change that needs to happen is to open the western rail corridor all the way to Sligo and beyond. It needs to go right up the west coast to ensure we can develop and open up the whole region to meet its potential. The places on our island with the most potential are those that have had the least investment.”
“They are simply asking for an adequate, workable dermatology service to be put in place for urgent cases and for routine cases to be seen in a timely fashion in the area. It is a serious problem. I have raised how the pain management department in Sligo is also under pressure and we have had issues with other services. We have no hip or knee operations happening at the hospital.”
“I raise the dermatology service in Sligo University Hospital. I was written to by Dr. Dermot McKenna, a consultant dermatologist. He informed us he was taking leave until the middle of July and no locum had been put in place to replace him during the period. It is a service that is under extreme stress. There are over 3,000 patients in the Sligo area waiting for new dermatological appointments. The service in Letterkenny has been closed down and 1,100 from there are being directed to Sligo. The GPs' society in the area also wrote to us to say its members were already under much stress for the past 20 years and that from their perspective the situation is very hard to fathom.”
“A presidential election is coming up soon. There have been expressions of interest from citizens who live in the North already; there may be more. That is welcome. It is what we need to see. They cannot vote for themselves in this election. It has happened in the past. We need an absolute commitment from the Government tonight that this will be the last time there is a presidential election in which people on all parts of this island are not able to vote for their President. We should also look internationally. We saw people living here from Brazil go to their embassy to vote in that election, as did people from the United States and Poland. Yet, Irish people are denied that right. That must change now.”
“My constituency runs along the border of Sligo-Leitrim into south Donegal. The people in Kiltyclogher and Cashel are the same people. People in some parts of Ireland do not understand that. They are related to each other. They are the same people in every way. Their farms straddle the Border. We all understand that, yet this artificial division made on the island of Ireland almost 100 years ago now means people cannot vote for the Head of State in their own country. It is ridiculous. I recall that after I was first elected in 2016, there was a debate about this. I think Enda Kenny was Taoiseach at the time. He said we were pushing an open door. I do not understand how pushing an open door can take ten years to open it. It does not seem logical. There has to be a recognition by the Government that this has to change quickly.”
“That is the way things are going; I have seen it. I recently spoke to an auctioneer who told me about new houses coming on the market in my area and that were going to be up to €400,000. There is not a hope for ordinary people to buy them and the Government just wants to leave them behind. The Government is a total and absolute failure as far as this policy on housing is concerned.”
“They will cater for people who are on very high salaries. People who are ordinary workers and earn decent money but will still not meet that will be left behind. They will not be on the social housing list and will have nowhere else to go. The only thing they can do is to look to Australia, Canada or somewhere to emigrate to. That is unfortunately what I see. I have youngsters in my own house who are in their 20s and that is what all their friends talk about doing. They talk about going somewhere else for the very reason that they do not see the prospect of being able to get a job in this country that will put them in a position where they can buy a house in the future. They talk about going away somewhere else, hoping to make enough money to come back with a deposit and to be able to buy a place.”
“A big part of Irish society, which is totally left out of this, are the ordinary working people. They are the people who go to college, get a good job and think they are going to get on in life but discover they cannot afford, or do not have a hope of affording, a house or place to live. We all meet them every day of the week. They are the ones telling us the Government is failing. They are the ones this State is supposed to protect and look after. They get up every day, go to work and pay their taxes, yet they cannot find a house. If they do find one, they cannot afford it. The Minister talked about needing big investors to come in and about all these apartments that will be built. Who will live in these apartments? It will be people who are earning €120,000 or €140,000 a year because that is the only sector they will cater for.”
“I listened intensely to the Minister's speech and one of the things that always strikes me is the Government seems to believe what it is doing is working. Do those in government not talk to their constituents and meet people, including the families who have elderly people living in their accommodation with them because they were put out of the places they were renting? Have they not spoken to people with youngsters who have come back to live with them who, having lived abroad for years, have come back here to try to get a house but can get nowhere? We all meet those people and know the situation is not working. The Minister says it is a crisis and the Government is treating it as such. If it was treating this like a crisis, the Government would be doing much more to resolve the issue.”
“I welcome the Minister of State's reappointment to this role. I expect that because he has held it before, he will be able to make progress faster than somebody who has not had that experience. We need to move with haste to get the investment in place to ensure we have flood mitigation measures, not just along ten and 12-year timelines, but much more quickly and with a much greater impact.”
“These boats remove the debris that builds up at pinch points like the eye of a bridge and bends in the river to ensure that the flow of water is uninhibited at those times it needs to be. Another issue that needs to be looked at was mentioned by my colleague in terms of the lakes on the Shannon and ensuring that their water levels are low at the times of year we expect to have a lot of rain, thereby ensuring there is capacity to hold it and let it out slowly without flooding down river. Lough Allen is a typical example and needs to be examined seriously, along with Lough Ree and others. The issue with the Shannon Callows is ongoing. I spoke to the group. The Minister of State knows its members well, as they are in his area. They have looked for years to get something done in respect of the callows. It is an ongoing problem.”
“Many farmers complain to me that one of the issues they face is ash dieback. Ash trees are the major tree across most parts of the country. They are falling into rivers and drains and blocking them. Farmers have no way of getting them out. They are a serious problem. Unfortunately, there has been no funding in place to date. If one has a plantation of ash, there are funds to help, but if one has ash trees along a road or river and they fall and become an obstacle, there is nothing to help. A measure needs to be considered because this impacts on flooding and the Minister of State's wider brief. The general concept we have in this country that we try to protect after the flood happens needs to change. In other countries, they have permanent maintenance boast on major rivers like the Shannon.”
“I welcome the small schemes that local authorities provide, which do much of the work on the ground. There is some money there and many local authorities are availing of it, but they are often up against it because there are people who have a problem with a river being cleaned somewhere. We all understand that the environment and wildlife have to be protected, but we have to look at the big picture. When something like this is done and a river is cleaned or a drainage system is put in place, the environment very quickly recovers. That needs to be seen and recognised. While it may be a disruption for a short time, the long-term impact is positive, both for the environment and the human inhabitants of the area. We need to put more effort into ensure we can provide that. Farmers have a major role to play as well.”
“Many people there wonder about the value of spending millions upon millions of euro on flood protection without first making the small investments needed to remove pinch points on the river and make things a little bit easier and seeing how that works. That is an argument for another day, though. The Minister of State mentioned Lough Funshinagh in Roscommon where the farming community has been devastated for years. There is an interim measure in place now, which I welcome as a temporary solution, but what we need to see is the permanent, long-term solution being fast-tracked and moving at the same pace. I understand that is not happening and there is frustration with the delays in moving it forward at pace to ensure we have a full and long-term solution in place for Lough Funshinagh and all the people of the area.”
“I congratulate the Minister of his State on his new role. He held it before in the Government before last and I worked well with him in the past. Sometimes, an old fiddle can play a very good tune and I hope he will be able to do that in this case. We look forward to more investment. My constituency of Sligo, Leitrim and south Donegal, like many parts of the country, has suffered grievously from changes in weather patterns and, in particular, flooding. It is a major issue for many farmers and communities in areas such as Carrick-on-Shannon, Leitrim village and so on where there are serious problems. There is a scheme in place.”
“I appeal to the Minister to be part of that leadership and show the world that we will not be held back, that we, the Irish people who have struggled for centuries against imperialism, can lead the fight against imperialism today.”
“-----and that is what needs to stop. It is clear that the Irish Government has an opportunity to play a leadership role. Thankfully, many more states in Europe are beginning to shift their attitude towards the genocidal state that Israel has become. The reality is that this conflict did not start 18 months ago. It started in 1947 and has gone on since. The people of Palestine have been under the cosh of an imperial power since then, continually taking their territory and continually destroying their lives. What we have seen going on Gaza over the past little while is an absolute atrocity beyond the beyond and we have to step up and make a stand. This is an opportunity for the Irish State to lead in that.”
“It is not the central bank in France, Italy or any other country; it is the Irish one that does it and by approving them, then it facilitates them for sale. That is the point that we make. We are not suggesting that they are sold by the Irish Central Bank. We are not suggesting any of that.”
“I listened intently to the Minister's speech. One of the things that struck me about it was that he mentioned many of the things that the Irish Government has done, recognising Palestine and all of the various actions that were taken, many of which we commend the Government for, and there is no issue with that. The problem is that when it comes to things that will actually give us real teeth, set us apart and give us a leadership role in the world, Ireland again steps back and holds back. That is the difficulty with this. The Minister made the point that the Bill that was before him did not do what it says it does. That is not true. The truth is - we try to find the things we can agree on - that Israeli State bonds, these war bonds or genocide bonds, have to be approved by some central bank in Europe. It is the Irish one that does it.”
“There is a need to provide bird cover by not cutting meadows until late August into September to allow ground birds to nest and so on. All these are vital parts. That is why we must have a much greater emphasis on biodiversity. There was something that always struck me about the basic payment scheme whereby farmers get paid per hectare. Farmers would get a map which was captured by a satellite and be told that they would be penalised in how much they would receive because the hedgerows had grown wider and therefore the land area was smaller. If a farmer had applied for 24.9 ha they would be paid for less than that and be penalised. So what did they do the next year? They cut all the hedgerows out of the way. That was absolutely detrimental to biodiversity. There is a need for more joined-up thinking.”
“There are huge problems in respect of ACRES but, at its core, it is a biodiversity plan for farmland across the country. We want to encourage more farmers to be in it but it is very hard to do so if they do not get paid in time or it is not followed up, the whole thing turns into a mess and everyone blames a computer system for it. There needs to be recognition that if we want to get this work done we have to have a partnership between everybody, and agriculture is key to that partnership. I refer to the schemes which have contributed to improving our biodiversity in various species. We used to see bat boxes up on trees around our part of the country as well as owl boxes and sand mounds for bees in the corners of meadows.”
“Agriculture often gets a bad name when we talk about climate change and biodiversity but, in reality, farmers have been to the forefront and have for decades been well aware of the need to protect our habitats and biodiversity and to prevent the extinction of species. Irish farmers have consistently adapted farming practices, going back to meet the challenges of climate change over the years. It was 1994 when the first rural environmental scheme was introduced and farmers willingly and enthusiastically entered into the highly successful measures to protect our watercourses and our rivers as well as planting trees, hedgerows and so on at the time. Irish farmers have continued to participate in environmental schemes as part of CAP, including REPS, AEOS, GLAS and now, of course, ACRES.”
“Biodiversity affects everyone in every part of the country. Biodiversity week offers an important opportunity to examine this critical part of life on our planet. It is not just nature for the planet; it is for human beings, too. It is for everybody and we are all a part of that. It is crucial we take a serious approach to tackling the biodiversity crisis in Ireland. Farmers manage and own the vast majority of land on the island. While there are other agencies which are part of that and play a vital role, farming is the key thing we have to crack in order to turn around this biodiversity crisis.”
“The other point is that internationally our trade is under threat because of this new tariff regime that is coming in from the US. It is creating huge uncertainty in markets all over the world. We need to recognise that. We will have to have our front foot forward to deal with that.”
“I support the Deputy on that. At the end of the day we have to get Irish produce into supermarkets. We have to get it exported everywhere around the world. I attended the agrifood regulator inaugural conference today in the Johnstown Court Hotel in County Meath. It was an excellent event and it certainly showed us that we have to look after the farmers and that the primary producer has to get fair play. I know the Minister met the regulator's officials the other evening and I spoke to Joe Healy about that. They need to get proper teeth but they also need big resources. They need to have the people there to be able to do the research to find out what is going on and be able to bring transparency into the system. That is vital.”
“We need to build a consensus across the farm organisations, the Department and everybody involved in the food industry to ensure we can continue to produce the high quality beef product in Ireland that we can market all over the world and that we can guarantee we have eradicated this disease once and for all. It will take a Trojan effort and that is why the Minister needs to continue to work with everybody to make that happen.”
“I thank the Minister. He mentioned increased funding. I believe the eradication programme cost about €75 million in 2023. There is a lot of money being spent on this, going back over the decades. We talk about the price of the children's hospital. We are into that kind of money having been spent on trying to eradicate TB in this country, and we are probably worse now than we were many decades ago. It is time to look at this anew. I respect that the Minister said he has taken on the views of many of the farm organisations and people who were at the forum who felt the initial proposals were trying to place the farmers very much in the firing line in relation to this. There has to be a way of dealing with it in a partnership way whereby everybody can work together to try to eradicate this disease. Ultimately, that is what we need to do.”
“It is something we seriously need to look at as a method of control, that we can have the BCG vaccine for all calves when they are born and that would control them into the future. I know there will be issues the Minister will raise with regard to traceability, and whether they will have the same test for a positive in that respect as if they have got the TB from wherever else. I think there can be unique tracers put on the animals at the time they are given the vaccination. Everything needs to be considered because what we have done at the moment has simply failed.”
“I thank the Minister. It is stark. That 36% increase really brings home the huge difficulty currently. Wildlife control is one of the serious impacts on all of this. We have to get to grips with the reality. In some parts of the country it is deer; in other parts of the country it is badgers. There are issues there that need to be dealt with. The vaccination programme has also been a failure in respect of that. It simply has not worked. I wonder, particularly in blackspots where we have serious outbreaks, whether we should have a mandatory blood testing of all animals rather than just the skin test that is there at the moment. Is that something that needs to be considered? The vaccination of animals at birth is something I know has not been rolled out anywhere yet.”
“I raise the issue of the TB forum, and some of the soundings that have come from it which have concerned many farm organisations and people on the ground. In my part of the world and in many places we have seen increased incidence of TB and huge problems on foot of that, with farmers being locked up and not being able to sell or trade their animals. The efforts that have been made over the decades have not yielded results, and there needs to be acknowledgment of that. The eradication programme has been, shall we call it, a failure. I think it is pretty much close to that at the moment, and I would like to see what exactly we can do to turn that around if at all possible.”
“It has not kept up with inflation; it has actually reduced systematically for farmers. We need to see a reversal of that if we are to have a future for farming that will be sustainable across the country and across the European Union.”
“I thank the Minister and recognise all of that. At the core of this, and it is the point our colleague from Laois made, is the issue of Pillars 1 and 2 and the kite being flown regarding where we will be in the future. It is something that really needs to be dealt with because farmers are fearful when change comes in like that that we will see an erosion, particularly of Pillar 1, which is the direct payment they get that they depend so much on throughout the country. It is particularly so along the western seaboard and in the west. Farmers are on more marginal land and are struggling more, and they need that payment and assurance into the future. It would be vital to make sure that happens. On the budget itself, this point goes back many Governments. Every time we have a CAP we see the budget squeezed down a little bit.”
“We need a longer CAP, one which stretches out further so there can be more assurance further into the future. That is vital because the short term nature of CAP so far has been to the detriment of Irish and European farmers.”
“It is clear that the multi-annual financial framework is going to be vital going forward and we will get a sense of where it is at. The key issue for farmers is that there are so many competing interests. The Minister mentioned defence and security which is the one in the headlines at the moment. I concur with him that food security is vital for everyone across the European Union and across the globe. When we have huge problems, such as those we have at the moment where we see great uncertainty from the point of view of conflict and tariffs, all of which can have a huge impact, it is vital in Ireland and across Europe that farmers are made sustainable. It is vital to know we can produce our own food to feed our people and that farmers can do so in a way that gives them an income and keeps them sustainable. That is what we need to do.”
“I raise with the Minister an issue with regard to where Ireland stands on the upcoming CAP negotiations. Farmers envisage a lot of difficulties in the future. While prices are high at the farm gate, farmers will still depend on having an adequate CAP in place to guarantee their future and sustainability. There are serious concerns around this kite that has been flown about changing Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 and maybe amalgamating them with other areas. There are concerns that this funding will not be ring-fenced or available in the future. We would like to get reassurance on what the Minister's proposals will be going forward.”
“The cumulative effect of delays, inconsistent practices and unclear responsibilities for services causes stress and frustration for parents who constantly have to fight and advocate for their child's right to support. There is a high turnover of staff who find that they are working in a stressed and understaffed environment to try to maintain services. The Minister and the Government's response to the rights of children is to remove those rights by amending legislation. It is simply unacceptable.”
“They also have to request a one-to-one session with a post-diagnostic team psychologist and then, if it is accepted, the child is on a waiting list, which is currently set at 18 months. The post-diagnostic team is for those with mild to moderate difficulties. If a child requires services for CAMHS, for moderate to severe difficulties, this is a separate application that must be filled in by parents in conjunction with doctors. Waiting times are anything from six to 12 months. In the meantime, parents are left to their own devices and told - we come across many of them regularly in our clinics - to bring their child to the emergency department if the child's mental health deteriorates. The impact on families is immense.”
“Even when people get an assessment, and their fight has been hard for that, they wonder what is next. Where is their next battle? If they get through the assessment of need, they can and may be accepted by the children's disability network team. If they get that, they may be on another waiting list for a vital service. Occupational therapists, speech and language services, and psychology, educational and psychiatry services, all have delays and more delays. If the young person does not meet the criteria, he or she will be put onto another waiting list. That young person will be referred to the post-diagnostic team and, before he or she can be accepted, parents have to participate in a five-week course. This is mandatory for parents.”
“Many are forced into the private sector to get assessed at huge and ever-rising costs of anything from €1,200 to €2,200. Some of these assessments may not even be accepted by the Department because psychology services in Ireland are not fully regulated. This delay in assessments of need has a long and ever-lasting effect on many young people. Adequate services are not put in place soon enough, which has knock-on effects for future development. The INTO recently voiced concerns regarding the growing involvement of teachers and school principals in assessment of children's needs due to the recent changes under the revised education report mechanism. Teachers are not clinically trained to diagnose complex disabilities leading to concerns about misidentification and incomplete assessments.”
“I pay tribute to Cara, her family and the thousands of families throughout the country who are in the same position. We all meet them in our constituencies. There are 15,296 people waiting for assessments of need. This wait-time can vary depending on their location and creates inequity across the system. Some children are better served than others based purely on geography. We saw this recently in Sligo-Leitrim where there is very high staff turnover, no clinical lead and waiting lists are rising daily. Many parents soon realise they are only starting the first battle in what seems a long and arduous war to try to obtain some sort of service for their children. The assessment of need is the first major hurdle in what they will soon come to discover is wait-list after wait-list.”
“Children in the area who live quite close to the school are having to travel to other schools because there is no space there. Really this is an issue that needs urgent attention to make sure the toilet facilities are put in place and the long-promised extension is expedited as soon as possible.”
“I raise with the Taoiseach the issue of Grange Post-Primary School in north Sligo. I visited the school last September I think - certainly it was before the general election - with other public representatives and we were given a tour of the school and the very cramped situation they are in. There are overcrowded classrooms and problems with toilet facilities are particularly a problem. Children are queuing up during lunch break to go to the toilet and sometimes fail to do so. The principal and the chair of the parents' association have written to me and to other public representatives on this. The minimum need they have is to get toilet facilities put in place before the next school term. There are only a number of weeks left in the school term, as we know. The school also has a long-promised extension which is badly needed.”
“One of the main objectives is that our young people are encouraged to take up farming, that they can see a future and opportunity to make a living and a reasonable income from farming. We will not have food security if we do not have a next generation of farmers.”
“A clear pathway needs to be set out as to the consequences of GAEC 2 today and in the future. Many farmers are still uncertain about that. Forestation is also a huge problem. Many farmers planted small pieces of land and those forests are on the ground now. They have serious difficulty getting a return from them. A lot of work needs to be done on many of these issues. Generational renewal is a big challenge facing Irish agriculture. The average age of the Irish farmer is 58, with 38% over 65. We need to encourage and provide invectives for the next generation to take on the family farm. There is an opportunity for the next CAP to do this. I hope it will be high on the Government's agenda when it negotiates the next CAP.”
“Farmers have always stepped up to the mark when it comes to protecting our environment. They signed up in record numbers to agri-environmental schemes even though the implementation of the schemes by the Department has caused a lot of disillusionment among farmers. It can be difficult for farmers to understand what is behind some of these schemes. For example, a few years ago, farmers were paid to cut hedges and clear bushes and scrub away from their land. Now, they get payments to plant hedges and leave bushes and scrub where they are. The Minister mentioned GAEC 2. There is a lot of uncertainty and difficulty for farmers in regard to GAEC 2. I accept there may be a certain amount of gaslighting; some people are saying the world is going to fall in and so on, but when there is an absence of clear information, that will happen.”
“Sinn Féin has been consistent in our opposition to the Mercosur trade deal. We will continue to oppose it as it is a bad deal for Irish farmers and European consumers. It is unfortunate that the Government has been so half-hearted in its opposition to that and failed to attend a meeting of EU member states that have concerns about Mercosur. Will the Government support the proposal by France to include a handbrake mechanism to deal with such an impact on EU farmers? A big issue for farm families is the uncertainty of the future. As we have seen in previous CAP negotiations, they are often rushed at the end and the budget is just agreed as they start talking about the next CAP. We need to stretch the CAP term to eight or ten years and give farm families more certainty to plan for the future.”
“I urge the Minister to work with his counterpart in the Assembly and develop an all-Ireland agriculture and food security policy. Agriculture and food production travel North and South. It would be beneficial to farmers North and South to have an all-Ireland agriculture and food policy, including food standards and plans to mitigate disease such as foot and mouth coming to our shores. Farmers are experiencing high prices for livestock at present as the trade at marts is very strong. This is obviously welcome; it was the opposite for far too long. There is concern that international trade deals will impact this, notably the Mercosur trade deal, and that the announcement last week of a trade deal between the USA and the UK will see US beef imported into Britain. The UK is Ireland's biggest market for beef.”
“These delays are for the most part the Department's fault, which of course blames IT issues. We hear the Government talk about simplifying the CAP and reducing the bureaucracy and red tape for farmers. It must have forgot to tell Department of agriculture this because the Department continues to come up with more and more complicated schemes that even its own officials do not understand. Its IT department must have been kept in the dark because it seems to be the number one reason for delaying farm payments. While we face uncertain times in terms of the CAP budget, farmers north of the Border are already experiencing cuts to farm payments due to Brexit. While I am sure many of them are enjoying sunshine today in Balmoral, they have concerns about the future of farming.”
“We are living in a time of uncertainty where there is a lot of instability globally and politically as well as the economic challenges of climate change and the threat of trade wars. Food security must be top of the agenda. To ensure we have food security, the CAP budget must be protected and enhanced. The CAP budget is worth €10 billion to Irish farm families. Our CAP strategic plan sets out how to protect family farm incomes, recognise the hard work of our family farms and support Ireland's climate ambitions. This all sounds good on paper but the reality is different for many farm families, unfortunately. There are consistent delays in payments, of which a prime example is ACRES, which the Minister mentioned. Farmers are waiting up to two years for ACRES payments.”