Michelle Mulherin (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted that the Minister and his officials are present to facilitate this debate. I requested this meeting last week and know that all members were in agreement. I made the request because I was concerned that a lot of the commentary I was hearing constituted nothing more than using the issue as a political football. It is a very serious issue which has become critical in the past fortnight. It has also gone country wide in that prior to this we had been talking about a problem in the north and the north west. It is very important that we go through the issues involved and tease out possible solutions.

The nature of the crisis is not the same throughout the country, even though there is a shortage of fodder nationwide. The problem in the north and the north west stems from the fact that it was raining in the region since last July, which meant that many farmers were not able to cut a second crop of silage. They were not ambitious enough to think they would get a third crop, but they did not even get a second crop. A swathe of farmers who had been following the advice of Teagasc to stretch their supply of fodder and act as prudently as possible had run out of fodder by January. They were buying fodder and had been able to do so, albeit with some difficulty. We now have a crisis because they are finding it difficult to source fodder for purchase. At the time the Minister introduced a transport subsidy scheme, but there were difficulties with it. A lot of farmers outside the north and north-west region who had silage for sale were not interested in sending an invoice to a co-operative. They wanted cash immediately, prior to letting the silage leave their farmyards. That proved to be a difficulty. Farmers in the north and the north west, unlike others in other parts of the county, have had to buy fodder because they did not get a second crop. They have also been buying meal.

I understand the Minister has concerns about a meal voucher scheme. Notwithstanding the extremely cold weather the weekend before last which inflicted further misery on farmers, one hopes things are on the up. We now have farmers who are not dealing with a fodder crisis as such but with serious financial difficulties. This is particularly true of farmers in the west and the north west. The problem is not the same throughout the country. That said, we must show solidarity because at this stage fodder is being imported. While it has not been quantified empirically, farmers in the north and the north west have spent an awful lot of money in buying meal to supplement fodder supplies. A very simple way of proving the extraordinary amounts being spent would be to look at bills from co-operatives or feed merchants in the first quarter of last year and compare them to those the first quarter of this year. In many cases, farms with 30 to 40 cattle are facing bills that are €2,000 or €2,500 higher than last year. To give them their duue, a lot of the co-operatives have been flexible in providing credit, but the money will have to come from somewhere eventually. I am talking about hard-pressed farmers. I am not talking about farmers who have ramped up their stocking levels but about those who are just trying to get by. We should not consider this to be an issue that is the same throughout the country because it is not. As I said, there is a way to prove that certain farmers have incurred extraordinary expenses and are on their knees. They are frightened because they do not have any fodder and are not able to let their animals out to graze because grass growth is only beginning and the ground is too wet. I ask the Minister to look at this issue and consider providing some form of direct assistance, perhaps through the provision of meal vouchers, for those farmers who have already incurred considerable expenditure. I am hoping the problem will pass and that with the importation of fodder, there will be more available to farmers.

It has been reported that there is an increasing problem with fallen animals because the quality of silage is poor. It seems that animals are absorbing toxins from poor quality silage and not getting adequate nutrition. I ask that subsidies be made available in the next six weeks to farmers who are facing the burden of having to dispose of fallen animals at a cost of €180 to €200 per animal. Clearly, there is a crisis as a result of animals having been fed with inadequate or low quality feed.

The Minister said he had applied to the European Commission for a derogation from the three crop rule. If a derogation could be obtained, it would mean that more barley and straw would be produced here. Does the Minister think it is likely that he will obtain such a derogation? What is the position in that regard?

I understand that some farmers in my area are buying in maize silage from other parts of the country. They are buying it loose so they do not qualify for the transport subsidy. That is what they were told when they inquired about it, but the Minister has stated that they qualify.