Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chair and my colleagues for their questions. Deputy Neville raised an important one in respect of the well-being of farmers as opposed to the well-being of their farm enterprise. That has to be the priority. Whether it is engagement with my Department's inspectors or financial institutions, I think everybody needs to be cognisant of the difficulties farmers are facing now. It was summed up accurately as not a case of bad farming but a case of bad weather. We will come through this. I have no doubt. The strength of the agricultural community is in that solidarity it has. Part of that solidarity is the co-operative movement. As others have said, I have been impressed by the commitment of the co-operatives I have engaged with. I am engaging shortly with the pillar banks and I will make the same point. I take the points made about the manner of their engagement with farmers as much as their engagement with farmers. That is really important because it is a stressful time. The overwhelmingly important message to get out is to say if a farmer has a difficulty, there is help available, whether it is over the bounds fence, at the local co-operative, from Teagasc or indeed from the Department's offices. Make contact. Put a hand up. It is not a reflection on anyone to seek help.

In case I was misunderstood, the point I was making in respect of Food Wise 2025 was that it is not the Department's ambition for farmers. It is the collective ambition of the industry itself. I refer to the dairy side. There is scope for expansion there, but it needs to be proofed every step of the way in respect of its sustainability, whether social, environmental, economic or animal welfare issues. I made this point earlier. They are all important and they are decisions that individual farmers have to make themselves in respect of how they expand and to make sure that they are fireproofed. We will revisit that when the dust settles on this particular difficulty. We will make sure we learn those lessons of the increasingly more volatile climatic challenges that we have and make sure that farmers are advised appropriately to help them come through those challenges. We have them too frequently now. I instanced them previously.

I do not think it is time to dismantle that ambition. A simple question was asked. We have competitive advantages. We can grow grass better than anybody else, notwithstanding the difficulties we have this year. As I said, and Senator Hopkins's point is relevant here, how do we get farmers to embrace this? The difference between the best in respect of grassland management and those at the bottom of the league table is substantial. We will reflect on all of this and how to get the message across. One way is through the knowledge transfer scheme. We do not have all farmers in Knowledge Transfer unfortunately. Growing grass is cheaper and more cost effective than buying concentrated feed. I appreciate individual farmers on difficult lands and all of that is a factor. Not everybody can have the best of lands, so there are difficult issues to be dealt with.

I refer to Deputy McLoughlin's point on the GLAS and the basic payment schemes. We are seeking Commission approval on GLAS and have been in contact with it in respect of the inspections regime. We have put an additional €25 million into the ANC scheme, and it will be skewed to benefit those on more marginal lands. I address Deputy Fitzmaurice's point. Did Teagasc get it wrong? I do not think so. The Deputy's question implies that perhaps Teagasc should have said in November that we should have imported fodder.

I think if I had gotten that advice in November I would have said "no". Certainly none of the co-operatives which are now importing fodder would have imported it, with the assistance we are now offering, at that time. It was a dynamic situation that was evolving. Teagasc was dealing initially with a dynamic in terms of managing the difficulties in pockets of the north west to what has become a national problem in the second week of April. In regard to the suggestion that we should have been importing fodder in November 2017, in the context of the situation at that time, I do not think Teagasc got it wrong.