Mr. T.J. Flanagan:

For clarity on the fodder that moved and the support the co-ops provided, as Deputy Kenny will know, well before Christmas there were substantial volumes of fodder moving into and around the north west in response to the particular problems that were there last year. That was before anybody started talking about schemes, even though there was talk about the balance of rations. Then there was the national scheme in the spring, the 100 km scheme. We do not have the numbers for it yet but we will say a few thousand tonnes moved supported by that. We do not have the numbers yet. Then there was the import scheme that came after the realities that hit us over Easter weekend. We think around 18,000 tonnes were supported for import then. In parallel to that, there was probably close to twice that volume of fodder moved into the south of the country from down around the east and from Northern Ireland. There was a lot of maize silage and grass silage moved as well and that was all brokered by co-ops without any support. There was a substantial volume of stuff.

With regard to the tillage crops and the need for contracts, a number of the larger co-ops have started to become brokers in that regard.

It is quite obviously too late to sow spring wheat or oats, and spring barley is marginal at this stage, as Deputy Cahill mentioned. The farmers can grow beet, maize or whole crop or something. They want a price first and they also want to be sure they will actually get paid. A number of the co-ops are putting themselves in as a broker to reassure the tillage farmer that he or she will get paid. I reiterate the point about the last opportunity as last year, notwithstanding the disaster in parts of the country, was very good for most dairy farmers. Volumes were up 9%, the milk price was up 9 cent per litre and constituents were grown consistently. However, people were hit with a large tax bill. If we had put in place those taxation measures, people would have been in a substantially stronger position right now.