Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his presentation. I would like to clarify a few things. He said there were approximately 17 approved operators for bringing in feed from outside the country, including co-ops. We are hearing stories, and the Minister might be able to enlighten me. As he is aware, in most parts of the country people who had lorries were bringing the feed from A to B, and that was their business. Obviously, the feed is not there. We are hearing from what I would call the small operators, who are not co-ops but are privately employed people who have spent their whole lives at this work, that they are not able to get through this ream of paperwork. I noted the Minister said they have a track record. They are not able to get through this paperwork to bring in fodder or get approved. Will he clarify that situation? Can it be made less cumbersome?

The Minister may remember that three, four or five months ago I mentioned the low input permanent pasture. As he knows, last winter farmers had to get rid of stock and some of them were left with a lot of grass. This is where we need to be proactive rather than reactive. There was an opportunity early in the year where there was a plethora of grass, where people had sold stock and did not have fodder. With the low input permanent pasture the grass was growing well but they were not allowed to cut it. Now they are. One wonders why we could not have got that for them then.

There is another thing we need to keep an eye on and I ask the Minister to talk to the banks about this. The banks are the first ones to get the single farm payment. The Minister said farmers will get money, which is great. They will get 85% a bit earlier. To call a spade a spade, however, in December they will get the same money they were owed although it might be a little quicker. The banks will get it first. The contractors and the co-ops will be hanging because the banks will swoop first, as we are well aware. I ask the Minister to talk to the banks to ensure they are not pulling everything out and leaving nothing for the other side. In fairness to co-ops, they had help last winter but they cannot keep going.

There is no simple solution to this, and no one will solve it overnight. The factories know that at the moment there are many culled cows coming out. They are doing the usual things that factories do at this time of year. They have pulled the price of cattle. In many factories, they are refusing to kill any carcass which is over 440 kg. It is skullduggery. The price of lamb has been dropped. For one good deal, perhaps to get more stuff growing somewhere else, the store lamb is in trouble at the moment. The guy who may be sowing this crop now used to always buy them for the stubbles but they are not buying them now, so the store lamb is in trouble at the moment. The factories for both lamb and cattle are using their usual tactics. They know farmers are under pressure. We are hearing stories. It is not my county, in particular, but people in the dairy sector are culling many dairy cows, and what they are doing to them is criminal, in my books, with the prices being offered. A move must be made there, led by the Department and the farmer organisations. The factories have much to be accountable for in what they are doing at the moment, and especially with the price of cattle.

I know the weanlings are coming out at the moment. A really fancy weanling out of a two-star or three-star cow is making good money, but the plainish ones are unsellable in many places.

Many people are concerned about the depreciation of currency in Turkey and the difficulty in trading there; that needs to be addressed.

We talked about credit. The Minister said that banks are commercial entities and we know what they have done over the years. The small family farm with a small payment got damn all money in the different loan systems. It is also important to keep them going. I offer a solution. GLAS does not have the number of participants anticipated. There is a budget there. Can the Minister kick that into gear? We now know that suckler cows have just gone downhill based on the number of calves registered. Will the Minister bring in the €200 payment for suckler cows? If he does not, areas in the country will be decimated.

I was out this morning on a tractor and baler on hire, baling for farmers. We are getting five to six bales second crop. In parts of the country, on more marginal land, between the first bit and the piece they have taken up again, farmers are coming near to having enough fodder. In other parts of the country it is nearly the opposite of last year - for example, in the south and south east farmers are in big trouble. There is some dryish rocky land in our neck of the woods that has not returned.

Some type of Government support needs to be introduced. We now know the consequences of less grain having been sown. We have the decimation of the suckler herd which has been denied for a long time, but is happening. I will outline a factual case. The Minister and his officials have power in this regard. I know of farmers who had slurry in the shed last spring. They had to spread slurry with the tanker - they might have ploughed two or three loads. They had mostly bad land with a bit of a hill and the tanker left a mark. Anyone would know the weather we had last winter and the pressure experienced by farmers. An inspector came out and gave a €2,000 penalty. Can this be reviewed? We talk about the money coming - 85% by Christmas. However, these penalties, some of them nonsensical, represent money not coming to a farmer. With the best will in the world, going through the appeal process will take a few extra months. Can the Minister do something about that?

I ask the Minister to get stuck into the factories straightaway. I know that they will give every excuse in the world. As the Minister pointed out, some farmers can cull a certain amount, including old ewes and cows, and they can fatten a certain amount of cattle. However, with the price of cattle as it is, people who never held them are trying to hold them over because they are so bad in places, especially the plainish cattle. The factories have to step up to the mark. While they might be able to make hay this year on the back of the farmer because they know they are caught in a situation, down the road if the farmer does not have the cattle for them, they will also be gone. We need to look at the bigger picture of what is going on.

The Minister talked about giving credit. Many farmers' loans have been sold on to vulture funds. For once, as a State, as a Government and as politicians, we need to do something to try to finance some of these people to allow them to hold on to their farms, rather than heading for "landlord" Ireland.