The government is rejecting calls from a local TD to set up a Commission on the Future of the Family Farm.
Martin Kenny and Michael Fitzmaurice backed the proposal in the Dáil last night.
Deputy Kenny, Sinn Féin's agriculture spokesman, told the Dáil there's a crisis in farming.
Small farms are under threat, he said - and many people who farm them need a second income to survive.
He wants a 10-man commission to be set up, involving agencies like Teagasc and the Department of Agriculture, to focus on the family farm.
They'd consider how it can be protected and made more viable.
They'd come up with recommendations within a year and the government would put them into action.
Deputy Kenny, who represents Sligo-Leitrim, says it's badly needed:
Independent Ireland TD for Roscommon-Galway, Michael Fitzmaurice, supports the bill too:
But Junior Agriculture Minister Noel Grealish says the government doesn't support the bill:
Deputies Kenny and Fitzmaurice both expressed their disappointment with his response.
