Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Commissioner. My question is also related to grain. Most of what I wanted to say has been covered by Senator Lombard but I would add that on the west coast, along an imaginary line from Kinsale to Letterkenny in Donegal, a large quantity of the crop has been lost. Irrespective of margins and prices, a lot of farmers in that particular area have no product to sell this year. I ask the Commissioner to outline what may be available or what could be done in the short term to support those farmers who have lost the totality of their crop, or certainly 75% to 80% of it. Some are still trying to salvage useless grain at less than one tonne per acre. The grain harvest is essentially a write-off along the west coast and I would like to hear the Commissioner's views on what could be done in the short-term in what are exceptional circumstances.