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

How concerned is Mr. Moroney that, in March 2020, diesel was being bought at 44 cent or 43 cent – it went under 40 cent for a week – but it is at 92 cent in bulk today, or 94 cent for smaller amounts? I have been listening to contractors from my area. With the way the price of diesel is increasing and a carbon tax due to apply to it in May, many contractors now appear to be considering where they are heading. We have to be fairly honest, in that many contractors rely on the AIB for most of the year. They put out slurry at the middle or end of January when the season opens, they do another bit, they go baling silage, building silage pits or whatever, and work during the rest of the year. That is not sustainable at the moment.

Banks are not lending to contractors. Many people would have taken out a working capital loan every year but I have heard that, for whatever reason, one of our main banks is putting them through hell on earth to get loans this year. I will tell the witnesses what I have heard – many contractors are looking to see whether they would be better off going into building because they cannot sustain what is happening. I put it to Mr. Moroney that, due to the increasing price of diesel and machinery, contractors being left out of low-emission schemes and so on and how tough the banks are being, contractors will grow scarcer over the next five to eight years and farmers will start booking them, even though they think at the moment that that will not happen. What is the association's view on this?