Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the representatives of the three banks for their presentations. One cannot stress enough the contribution the agricultural sector makes to recovery, hopefully, of the rural economy.

As Deputy Penrose said, there are many issues facing farmers in the medium and long term.

From the presentations, the witnesses seem to be preparing for that. Rather than just focusing on short term, they are considering the situation down the road. For those from a farming background, volatility includes price and weather. Where people are depending on harvest or silage for the summertime, they always look at the weather to see whether they have adequate feeding for stock for the winter.

The major opportunity is the dairy sector. This also comes with a warning because there is a suggestion that the price could drop as low as 28 cent per litre from 37 cent per litre, which is the second highest price ever paid for milk in this country. In farming, everything recovers although it may take time. Things turn around after a couple of bad years and the same thing will apply to the dairy sector. I am not so pessimistic to think that it will drop as low as 28 cent per litre but I think the price per litre will drop to the low to mid 30s.

Have the witnesses considered the age profile of the people they are lending to? The presentations suggest a huge percentage of the farming community is over 65 years of age. In lending, that comes into the equation irrespective of the asset involved. What is needed are unsecured loans up to €30,000 for young farmers getting into the industry. With regard to renting land with long-term leases, are capital investment or stocking density part of the lending opportunities for younger people?

With regard to training courses, the AIB representatives referred to 2,400 farmers turning up to these events at regional farming meetings. This is an educational process for young farmers coming into the industry. Was there a greater demand and did more people want to attend these courses?

The witnesses mentioned reviewing monthly payment commitments, short-term increases in working capital, short-term loan facilities and an interest-only period on existing borrowings. The superlevy will be an immediate problem in the dairy sector and finance must be made available to farmers to meet that demand. There may be lending to farmers who are paying off because of overproduction. The AIB variable rate is 4.2%. Is there a possibility of freezing the rate for the short period over which the superlevy will be paid back? Is that not in the interest of the development of farming when farmers will be borrowing and paying back for asset development? It would be a big investment from dairy farmers to capitalise on the opportunities with the quota gone. Can they have a commitment on the superlevy? Can it be frozen and set aside until things turn?

Banks can be very secure because farmers probably have the best record on lending. Investment in the agricultural and farming sectors has the most potential for rural communities. Anything that inhibits growth will create problems nationally. I hope the banks will look at that in a positive way. It is also good publicity for the banks, coming on the back of bad publicity, and something that will encourage people and put a human face on the situation.