Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the deputation and thank it for its report.

Will Mr. Joe Healy elaborate a little more on the action plan? I know none of us can control the weather. Farmers in the north midlands and the west have got a hammering in the past two years and this year is no better. Earlier, I told of a case of a neighbour of mine who drove a combine into a 14-acre field three weeks ago and only finished harvesting last Sunday evening. There is no way he will go back to tillage. If he does not, what alternatives does he have? I know this is due to the weather and we might have a good year next year. However, Mr. Liam Dunne said farmers are frustrated. What is the alternative? One cannot advise a farmer try it again. The old adage kicks in about repeating the same action over and over again and expecting a different result.

I grew up on a mixed farm which are far and few between. It was farmers to go one or the other. There was no crock of gold, however, in whatever sector they chose. The deputation could be here next week with a beef crisis and the following week a milk crisis. How are we going to get a farmer to make the sea change? We are going to have to start increasing to maintain the status quo. It is obvious the day is long in some areas but it is worse this tillage crisis is going to get and farmers are going to pull out. Even if the requests in the action plan were worked on, farmers on the ground are left with no choice but to leave tillage due to climate reasons. The answer from the last group was about moisture content and yield on the weekend of the Leinster final. In other words, sow winter. In the areas I am referring to, one cannot harvest in September and October and one will certainly not be sowing then. That is not a viable answer for those farmers. There must be some solution for them. What is plan B for them when they say enough is enough?