Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. Like Senator Paul Daly, I thought the writing was on the wall for this issue last October and I raised it in the Dáil in October, November, February and March. The Minister stated that based on Teagasc figures, there was sufficient supply within the country but obviously, that was not evident because everybody knew otherwise. Even in the area where I come from, there are cows that still are not out yet, believe it or not. Thankfully, the co-operatives unquestionably played their part and that must be recognised. The marts where hay was imported also helped. Up to last week it was still coming into the north west, where people in Manorhamilton could not keep it in. Mr. Martin Keane will be aware of that harsh reality. What has happened has happened and there is nothing much we can do about it. I believe a meal voucher system certified by Teagasc people on the ground would have been a much more prompt response. While €1.5 million is available, where farmers were under severe pressure and stress the meal voucher system would have been more effective and could have been introduced much quicker. It is something we should watch for next year. There will be no surplus; we can all accept that. I know farmers who gave silage to their neighbours to get them over the hill and had to turn around and buy fodder themselves afterwards to keep going. That is the harsh reality. From what I can see on the ground I do not think there will be any surplus this year but we need to be more careful next year. Whatever has to be done next year, needs to be done in time rather than waiting until there is a complete disaster. A lot of cattle have died. I know people in the dead animal collection business and they have three lorries running flat out to meet demand. That is partly as a result of bad feed, fodder and weather. It is not all one issue but there is no doubt but that people are at their wit's end. There is no question about that. I agree with the mention of high costs. There should be a system put in place in the budget where a taxation measure should allow a farmer to carry on from a good year into a bad year because if there was ever evidence of that, this is one year that can be used as an example. It should be looked at and it should be proposed in the budget.