In his customary straight-talking style, the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, has delivered his own verdict on the "crisis" in the farm sector. There was, he suggested some days ago on RTE's Moneybox programme, a "lot of hype" from farmers at present. The not insignificant sum of £1,000 million had been paid out by the Exchequer to the farm sector this year. The Government would not be drawn into providing special mechanisms for short-term problems. Instead, he signalled that the Government's Budget priorities were towards more needy groups like the elderly and the lower-paid.
It was a remarkable contribution. Traditionally, government and the farm lobby have enjoyed something of a symbiotic relationship. But this was a new departure; a Government Minister daring to confront the farm sector. It may be that the war of attrition waged by the main farm organisations has taken its toll. Mr McCreevy's own impatience was clear. Referring to his colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, the Finance Minister said that no one had done so much for farmers - but all he got in return was "loads of abuse from the farming organisations".
Mr McCreevy's comments also serve to underline the declining political clout of the farm sector. The farm organisations may be able to muster 40,000 people on to the streets of Dublin for a once-off protest but the increasing urbanisation of Irish society and the very strong performance of other sectors in our economy, has eroded at least some of their power. Certainly, the tone employed by Mr McCreevy would have been unthinkable not so very long ago.
In an escalation of its dispute with government, the IFA leadership, which last evening met the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, Mr Dermot Ahern, has warned that it will pull out of Partnership 2000 if its key demands - which include the payment of Family Income Supplement to low-income farmers - are not met. As a result of this meeting - and despite Mr McCreevy's comments - the IFA appears more confident that the Government will respond to its demands.
Many farmers have certainly fallen on hard times. The industry is facing a severe crisis with falling prices and a fodder shortage caused by bad weather. The medium-term outlook is also gloomy. EU plans for a further reform of the CAP and pressure in the next round of world-trade talks for deep cuts in EU subsidies pose a further threat to farm incomes.
For all that, farm income has proved remarkably resilient in the past decade despite dire warnings about the effect of CAP and/or GATT changes from some in the farm sector. And, while the cold statistics often point to a low level of average income, these often obscure the fact that many farming households have other substantial incomes. It is also the case that farmers, even those worst afflicted by the present crisis, own valuable tracts of land.
Farmers have some genuine grievances. But they are not alone. As CORI has pointed out, there are now more people below the poverty line than there were 10 years ago. There are those among the elderly, the marginalised and the low paid who endure a meagre existence. Mr McCreevy is right: farmers are not the only hardship case.