Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister stated he will take the advice of Teagasc and other bodies from now on and indicated that Teagasc did not advise the Department to take the route of introducing a transport subsidy. It is a roll of the dice now as to how long the spring may be. The Minister must be much more proactive than simply monitoring the position daily. One step he could take would be to review the transport subsidy scheme as it is counter-productive. If it becomes necessary to help subsidise the transport of grass based fodder, it will be to subsidise the importation of additional fodder, rather than the transport of an already scarce resource around the country. As Deputy Cahill argued, a concentrates based scheme for those who are under significant pressure is the type of support required from the Department. That is the advice farmers should be following and many are certainly doing so at the farm gate. It is not the approach taken by the Department, however. Has the Department provided for a contingency fund in the Revised Estimate to support a fodder scheme if the position does not quickly improve?