Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I remind members, witnesses and those in the Public Gallery to make sure their mobile phones are completely turned off as they affect the broadcasting system. I welcome representatives of the IFA to this meeting to discuss the recent bad weather and its effect on the grain harvest this year: Mr. Joe Healy, president; Mr. Liam Dunne, grain chairman; Mr. David O'Brien from IFA Cork; Mr. John Daly from IFA Galway; Mr. Fintan Conway, grain executive; and Mr. Jim O'Regan from IFA Cork. I also welcome tillage farmers from right around the country in the Public Gallery.

I bring to the witnesses' attention that they are protected by absolute privilege in respect of their evidence to the committee. However, if they are directed by the committee to cease giving evidence regarding a particular matter and they continue to do so, they are entitled thereafter only to qualified privilege in respect of their evidence. They are directed that only evidence connected with the subject matter of these proceedings is to be given and they are asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, they should not criticise or make charges against any person, persons or entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable. Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the House or an official either by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable.

I call on Mr. Healy to make an opening statement, after which I will call on members to ask questions.

Mr. Joe Healy:

I thank the Chairman and committee members for having invited the IFA to address the committee. I am joined by Mr. Liam Dunne, chairman of the IFA grain committee; growers Mr. David O'Brien and Mr. Jim O'Regan from Cork; Mr. John Daly from Galway; and Mr. Fintan Conway, also of the IFA.

I do not need to tell the committee that 2016 has been a disastrous year for grain farmers. We are into the fourth consecutive year of low grain prices, a situation that is not sustainable. The majority of tillage farms generated negative incomes in 2016, and the Teagasc outlook conference confirmed that the net average margin on tillage farms in 2016 was minus €130 per hectare. The figure for the bottom third of tillage farmers is minus €440 per hectare. Consequently, many cereal farmers will have to subsidise heavily their production costs with their direct payments. If one considers the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, one sees that by 2019 these direct payments will have reduced by 8%. This is not sustainable. These important issues need to be addressed to ensure a viable tillage sector that can prosper into the future.

The fundamental problem is low to negative margins caused by low grain prices and rising input costs. On the price side, the IFA was instrumental in setting up a system of forward selling in order to mitigate income and price volatility. However, forward selling opportunities, affording a margin over production costs, have been few and far between, such is the scale of the downturn in grain prices over the past number of years. The exceptional yields in 2015 somewhat counterbalanced the low prices received but, unfortunately, many of the growers affected this year, particularly in Cork and Donegal, did not achieve these exceptional yields in 2015. In addition, a number of growers in some coastal areas of Cork and Kerry lost winter crops due to the sea scald and had to resow early this spring. The reality is that poor margins for the past four years have left tillage farmers across the country, particularly in these areas, with severe financial losses.

Tillage farmers have suffered a severe income drop of between €70 million and €80 million in 2016 due to a combination of factors, all of which are aggravating this already serious income crisis: reduced production in 2016 in excess of 400,000 tonnes; the reduction in oilseed and protein crop yields; lower grain and protein prices, reducing basic payments; and higher input and capital costs. Without political intervention and action on a number of fronts, Ireland's tillage sector is in imminent danger of collapse, with major implications for the entire livestock sector and our world-renowned drinks industry.

Many tillage farmers face severe financial hardship, such was the scale of crop losses experienced this harvest by individual growers in parts of a number of counties, including Cork, Kerry, Galway, Roscommon, Longford, Mayo and Donegal. I am sure the growers here with me will outline the difficulties and losses in their counties in the questions and answers to follow. Met Éireann data for these areas show that incessant rain of over 25 days, high relative humidity of 20 days and a lingering sea mist in some coastal areas for much of September impacted severely on crops essentially west of a line from south Cork to Donegal. I have personally visited a number of these farms and witnessed these difficulties first hand. We in IFA have also held a number of meetings with growers in their counties. The IFA is conducting a comprehensive survey of farmers affected in these regions and we are working very closely with Teagasc and the grain trade. Our figures indicate that individual growers have experienced crop losses running from 25% to 50%, with straw loss averaging about 50%. Some individual cases with significantly higher losses have come to our attention. Full details of our crop losses assessment are being prepared and will be presented to the Minister, Deputy Creed, and Commissioner Hogan in Brussels. The IFA raised the income crisis in the grain sector at a meeting we had with the committee last September. In addition, we have outlined the serious losses of grain farmers to the Minister on a number of occasions and have taken the case to Commissioner Hogan's office in Brussels. Farmers in these areas are at their wits end, not having experienced conditions like this since the mid-1980s or, in the case of younger farmers, never in their lifetime. Many farmers to whom I have spoken, especially in the past week or two, given that all the bills are coming in at the moment, fear repossession of their machinery. It is critical that an aid package is secured and put in place for these growers as a matter of urgency, given the dire financial situation in which many of them find themselves through no fault of their own.

Our aid package proposal is that the Government provide direct funding support to farmers who have been affected by the severe crop loss in 2016. The IFA is clear that the new working capital loan facility secured in the budget will help and have a positive role to play in some farms in the year ahead.

The IFA is clear that the new working capital loan facility, as secured in the budget, has a positive role to play on some farms in the year ahead but we are clear that for the farmers who have suffered crop related weather losses, direct funding support is urgently required. This could be provided with direct compensation payments of up to €15,000, reflected in the state aid de minimisceiling.

For the tillage sector at large, it is vitally important to implement the IFA action plan, which we presented to the Minister, Deputy Creed, at the national tillage forum, to address the serious and deepening income crisis growers are facing. The details of the IFA action plan include the introduction of a specific crop-loss aid package for the tillage sector targeted at the affected farmers. It also involves the establishment of a feed certification scheme supporting sustainable agricultural production. The scheme would maximise the use of native grain and proteins in Irish livestock rations in support of Irish growers; ensure that harmful weed seeds such as black grass and sterile brome, etc., are not inadvertently imported into the country; and increase the use of native grain and Irish malt in the production of Irish whiskies and artisan and craft beers. The action plan also proposes the abolition of tariffs and anti-dumping duties on fertiliser imports as fertilisers now account for 30% to 40% of variable production costs. The IFA has undertaken a major campaign at European level to eliminate duties and tariffs on fertilisers which would deliver annual savings of up to €1 billion to European farmers and between €50 million and €70 million to Irish farmers. I am heading to Brussels again in the morning to advance this campaign.

The action plan also proposes a review by the EU competition authority of the cost of plant protection products which are priced significantly lower to growers in other regions across the world; increased funding to allow for the expansion of the protein crop area eligible to receive the full coupled payment; and the immediate roll-out of the TAMS investment programme. Working with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the IFA has put forward a comprehensive set of proposals for TAMs in the tillage sector and we are pushing for the scheme to be opened as soon as possible. Finally, the action plan proposes a reduction in the burden of compliance for greening and the introduction of a meaningful renewables heat incentive scheme that will enable growers to generate a viable alternative income stream from the sale of biomass crop residues.

The Irish cereal sector is in grave danger of falling into terminal decline unless immediate and decisive action is taken to reverse the dramatic fall in incomes. Since 2012, the Irish cereal area has fallen by over 100,000 acres and this trend will accelerate unless there is a dramatic turnaround in fortunes for grain growers. This will also have ramifications for the sustainability of our livestock and drinks manufacturing sectors. I am looking for the strong support of this committee in seeking an immediate aid package for the relatively small number of growers who have suffered devastating losses this harvest. In addition, I am also seeking the support of the members for action to address the deepening income crisis in the tillage sector. Prompt action is needed by all stakeholders to support Ireland's vitally important tillage sector.

Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I thank Mr. Healy for his opening statement. The first four questioners will contribute in the following order: Deputy McConalogue, Senator Lombard, Deputy Martin Kenny and Deputy Penrose.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Mr. Healy and the strong delegation from the IFA, both as witnesses and in the Gallery, for attending. I welcome them here. It is a pity that we have to be here at this stage. It is the first week of December and the fact that tillage farmers are in crisis is old news and something that should have been dealt with a long time ago. The reason we are here is because the crisis continues. Those farmers who have lost significant proportions of their crops may be in a minority category, but they are still facing bills, they still have no cashflow and the pressure is still mounting with no sign of relief. I have raised this issue on numerous occasions during Oral Questions to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine as well as on the floor of the Dáil with the Taoiseach, but their heels have been very firmly stuck in on the recognition of the need for a crisis fund for those who have lost their crops. The proposal in regard to the low interest rate for SBCI has a role to play in supporting agriculture by driving down interest rates, but it is a very specific role, not an answer. Debt is not an answer for those who have lost their crops and simply do not have cashflow this year. For that proportion of tillage farmers who have lost their crops, a crisis fund is required. This has been done before. It was done in 2009 and 2010 for the horticulture sector and it can be done again.

Certainly, the IFA has the support of Fianna Fáil. Deputies Cahill and O'Keeffe are here today as well. I have had representations from members of the parliamentary party right along the west coast who have been talking to constituents who are very much affected. We will certainly keep the pressure on. All members of the committee raised this with the Minister when he was here. The potential exists within the state aid de minimusrules to support this. The fact that a loan fund has been set up does not exclude the possibility of a crisis fund to meet the needs of those farmers who are in crisis. There is also scope within the current budget of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine do to it, but the absence so far has been one of will and a recognition of the fact that a fund is needed to support farmers. The IFA has put forward a comprehensive range of proposals today and we will certainly support them but the key measure for those in particular crisis is a fund.

The extent to which farmers have been leaving the industry over the last three to five years has been outlined clearly. The profitability has not been there. We are already a net importer of cereals, which is one of our few areas of net import, and we need to protect the cereal growers we have. To do that, we must ensure that those who are in an unprecedented crisis this autumn receive the crisis funding they need to tide them over and get them through this particular year. The IFA has our full and continued support. In terms of any resolution going forward from the committee today, we are full square behind the IFA request for a crisis fund to support those in need.

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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This is not the first time I have spoken on this issue. I raised it with the Commissioner when he came to town a few months ago and I have also raised it in the Seanad on several occasions. I come from Minane Bridge, County Cork, which is three miles from the sea and this issue affected most of my neighbours, colleagues and friends. There are two issues really. One was the weather in September, which involved a sea fog that failed to lift for three or four weeks, and, where people had winter cereals, there was an unfortunate level of devastation regarding salt burning to an extent which had not been seen in many years. Those issues, compounded by poor prices, high moisture and a lack of straw on the ground, made the tillage sector in my part of the world very dysfunctional and drove down incomes. It has been an unbelievable year for tillage and it is a crisis without a shadow of a doubt. When one looks at the figures the IFA has produced that anything up to 4,000 tonnes has been lost, it is clear that there will be a significant downward impact on incomes, which is a huge issue for the industry. As I have stated previously, the tillage industry is on the verge of collapse if we do not do something. That is my view having listened to neighbours and friends in my part of the world. They cannot sustain what they lost in the last four years. The forward selling proposal and prices for next year may not mean any improvement according to the Teagasc reports issued over the last few weeks. The industry is under fierce pressure going forward.

One often hears that the dairy man will do well if the tillage man goes.

That is not the case because the dairy man depends on the tillage man, we need the straw and need that ground regarding peas and kale. We need each other and need it to be interactive so we can all survive in what is a tough job. There is no point saying it is not. To my knowledge, and I am open to correction, this only affects some 400 farmers and affects areas such as south Cork, maybe south Kerry and up the west coast of Ireland. There is a little bit of education required around this event. It was an unusual event and it only happened in very specific areas. It did not happen everywhere and telling the story, even to my own colleagues is a big issue, because people do not realise that this unusual weather event lasted for the month of September from the south side of Cork city to Cork Harbour. That takes a little bit of education. That part of the world is the main grain growing part of Cork. It is an event about which not every member of every party is aware happened. Even when coming to this debate today there was a question mark over what it is all about and we need to get that message out there. Hopefully this debate will go a fair way to actually getting the information out.

Going forward, we need to invoke whatever powers we have to put pressure on the Minister and the Commissioner. When I questioned the Minister on this issue a few months ago his solution was that we could use the low interest loans to help the grain industry. I realise that the low interest loans are available for the grain industry but I do not think borrowing ourselves out of this is the appropriate way for the 400 or so farmers who are so unfortunately affected. We need to go to the Minister and see what can be done. If we must we should go to the EU and I have no issue in sending a delegation from this committee to the EU if required. Something must be done as it was an unusual event and it will have a major and crippling effect on the grain industry in my part of the world if we do not do anything to solve the problem.

Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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I thank Mr. Joe Healy and all the representatives here today from the Irish Farmers' Association. This issue has been around for quite some time. We are all very conscious of it. I met with some of the growers from my own end of the world. On Sunday evening I was at a table with one of them. The reality is that it is not affecting every grower. It must be recognised that we are talking about a minority within the grain and cereal growers in the State. That minority probably numbers somewhere close to 400. I am aware of the action plan that has been set out and many of the elements of the plan could be described as being medium-term objectives such as one would like to see in the future, but the first item on the list is the one we really need to have now, which is an aid package for farmers. If there are 400 or so farmers, at an average of €12,000 each, then the amount of money we are talking about is approximately €5 million. It is not a huge chunk of money in terms of the budgets being dealt with by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, in the context of a vital industry. As other contributors have said, it is not just the grain industry. It is interconnected to every other part of the agriculture sector, to our food production and to the whiskey and beer industries, which are produced and exported very well by Ireland. The fact that all those things are so interconnected means that we must ensure the grain industry survives, lasts and moves forward. The example is often given of industries that fell away in the past such as the sugar industry. It left a huge hole for so many growers in the State when it was taken away overnight. If the sugar industry was still here it would be an advantage because it is the similar type of grain growers who would also be growing the beets. The problem we have here is that somehow there is a block to recognising that this issue requires money. It does not require a loan nor does it require tea and sympathy. It requires money on the table. This is what needs to happen as quickly as possible. In fairness, any time we talk to the Minister he understands the issue. We are, however, inclined to blame the officials in his Department, and I know there are some present today, but we will not blame them for everything. At the end of the day the Minister has the decision to make, and that is why he is there. He needs to make that decision and put the money in place to ensure the grain industry does not fall and go by the wayside, the way other industries have in the past.

The industry representatives have the full support of this committee in what it they are seeking to do. It goes beyond just the first item on the action plan list for an aid package to be put in place. It is also about the other elements of the list which are for medium term objectives which should not be lost if an aid package comes. These objectives also need to be looked at so the industry can be in a position next year, or the year after, where a buffer can be created and if another situation arises such as the bad weather crisis of this year we will not be looking for an aid package then. As the other contributors have said, the industry representatives have the full support of this committee in getting the issue resolved. I am not sure what we can do. It was suggested to bring the matter to the EU but while we all have a good relationship with the Minister, Deputy Creed the buck stops there. It will be his decision and he needs to step up to the mark and make that decision as quickly as possible.

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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I welcome the delegates from the IFA to the committee and also those in the Visitors Gallery. I especially welcome my own fellow county man Mr. Fintan Conway. I note the president of the IFA had not mentioned that Mr. Conway is from Westmeath. That is important for me.

The disastrous events of the last year or so are just bringing to the surface the ongoing sequence of events over the last four or five years. This issue is just coming to an apex. Last year's yields disguised many things and I am not surprised that the weather conditions actually accelerated this whole problem. The problem is obviously very pronounced in the south and the western seaboard but let us not forget that it also has a midlands dimension, for example in Roscommon, Longford and Westmeath. There are a dozen farmers in Westmeath who are in a similar situation. It is right across the State and it is about 400 farms. We raised it with the Minister fairly aggressively at an earlier meeting here today and indicated that €4.5 million or €5 million would be the type of money that would deal with the problem.

However, the Minister may be starting at the wrong end by talking about the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland and the loans available. This is not a matter of loans because people are already in debt. The Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland may be very good next year at dealing with merchant credit, which can be very costly, and in giving us money at cheaper rates. While this would help, it will not alleviate this problem. This needs addressing immediately and requires meaningful interaction or the exodus of grain farmers from the industry will accelerate. That would be the end of it. This would have a knock-on effect, as my colleagues have said, not just for the grain and cereal industry. It will also affect the brewing and malting industry and everywhere else; the whole place will collapse. This is of grave importance. We argued with the Minister about the de minimisceiling and such matters today and we indicated to him that perhaps it should be reviewed. Help should be sought when the IFA president is in Brussels tomorrow. It would be worth exploring because Ireland is small in the overall pool and if we are to get some EU assistance then we must make friends with the big ones - the French and the Polish - who must also be suffering in other ways.

We must work in that way, hopefully, and assuming we are successful in securing some sort of a crisis aid package for the industry at national level and with EU support, then we could address some of the matters that were raised, especially by Liam Dunne, the IFA's grain chairman over the last five years. These concerns include the abolition of tariffs and the duties on fertiliser and they must become a major focus. I agree with Deputy Martin Kenny that while we need to address the immediate concern, we need also look to the medium term as there will be an ongoing crisis in the tillage area, and particularly in grain farming, if we do not take proactive steps. Some farmers have lost more than 40% and 50% of their yield. I know of some farmers who have been wiped out altogether in the current year of adversity. Straw has been a disaster and the perverse situation is that the price of any straw available has gone through the roof.

This is typical. When demand exceeds supply, farmers are getting robbed at the other end when trying to buy straw, the price of which has gone through the roof, which is adding insult to injury.

It is a major issue for individual farmers. We have raised it with the Minister today and we also raised it in September and followed it through. I would be interested in finding out from some of the individual farmers about their own losses in this area and what steps this committee can take to try to assist their campaign to secure an aid package at national level. At European level we need to make sure the Commissioner takes full cognisance of the situation, and I know they have already impressed some of these points on him. When will this IFA survey be available, given I am sure it will be informative and instructive in regard to how to proceed from here?

Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Before I return to Mr. Healy, I wish to ask some questions. The IFA is undertaking a survey of the number of farmers involved. Is there a rough breakdown of those who own the land, those who rent the land and that type of information? There are a number of different issues. There is a short-term issue with those who have been affected by the bad weather. I believe there are also medium-term and long-term issues, and an open discussion is needed in the tillage sector about where the sector is going in the short, medium and long term. That is probably a different discussion and one that will take longer than today's meeting. Mr. Healy might highlight some of these points.

Mr. Joe Healy:

I thank the Chairman and the speakers. It is good that all of the speakers agree with us on the immediate need for a crisis fund. There is absolute acknowledgement of the depth of the crisis for the people affected. To be fair to the speakers, the figure of 400 they are talking about is also the figure we are talking about, given the information we have collected. Moreover, there is acknowledgement of the knock-on effect on the other sectors.

Perhaps Deputy Penrose's fellow countryman, Fintan Conway, did not mention Westmeath because he spends so much time working in every county and in the farm centre that he spends less time in Westmeath than anywhere else.

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Mentioning Westmeath is important.

Mr. Joe Healy:

We will always claim the maroon and white for the two counties. Perhaps Mr. Conway or Mr. Dunne will deal with the question of the breakdown.

Mr. Fintan Conway:

We have received more than 200 detailed submissions from farmers in regard to crop loss, the area they farm, the different crops they farm, the five-year average yield and the yield they got this year. We used the five-year average yield because that gives a balanced figure. There is a significant loss of yield of up to 70% in some cases. We are still waiting for detailed forms to come back from some counties but we have in excess of 200 to hand with very detailed crop information on yield loss.

Mr. Liam Dunne:

It would appear that 60% of the land affected is owned and 40% is rented. Many of the growers involved are relatively small because that is the nature of farming in the western sector, and these growers are growing crops on their own land. In the past couple of years, when growers have been running very tight margins and depending on good yields to compensate for poor prices, they have always been worried that the year will come when the yields do not work and the prices are poor. That is what has happened to these people. It is a once in 30 year event as far as weather is concerned, and has not been seen since the 1980s. I was very taken aback when I went down to some of the fields in Galway and Roscommon in September. As members will know, our sense of smell makes for the strongest memories, and I had not got that smell of rotting grain in a field since 1985. I have to admit I was quite taken aback and shaken by it. It is horrible to be out in a crop that is literally rotting under one's feet. Those people are in very serious difficulty.

Mr. David O'Brien:

We have heard about the number of farmers and the total figures for tonnes lost but the specifics are a lot more serious. I had one field of grain that I harvested at 1 tonne to the acre at 30.2% moisture, for which I got €97.50 a tonne. There were probably three bales of straw per acre, so the total income was probably €120 per acre. Everybody knows where the costs are, so that is a reflection of crops that were severely affected. One could look at averages among the 400 growers, but we have to think of the growers who suffered that kind of loss on a large proportion of their grain. A cheap interest loan next year is no good. Who is a going to loan a grower money on the basis of this year's accounts and income, with everybody knowing that the income from next year will be needed 100% to run the show next year? If we were in the dairy business, with the increasing milk price there would be confidence and hope that we could borrow and ride this one out over a number of years. However, the forward price for grain is showing nothing that suggests we can achieve this.

That is why our number one issue is a crisis fund to solve the current problem. It is very heartening to hear every committee member who has spoken on the issue recognise the problem. However, the question I will be asked when I go back to west Cork tomorrow is, "What did they say they will do for you?" or "What are we going to get?" We are in the run-in to Christmas and the situation for these growers is that their single payment has come and gone and there are still large bills to be paid. That is the reality. The next income is next year's harvest. That is the situation most of these people are living in and it is why we are here today. It is urgent that we get a pool of money. It is not a big number of growers so it is not a big a pool of money that is required to solve it, but for the people affected, it is essential. I would like to get feedback as to how strong a case the committee can put for us and what we can go back to west Cork and tell our people about where this is going and how confident we are the committee can deliver something for us.

Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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As Deputy Penrose outlined, we had a fairly robust engagement at a previous meeting with the Minister, and some of the current delegation may have been present in the Gallery for that meeting. What we can do is probably limited enough. We can make recommendations and we can support the growers but, as was said earlier, tea and sympathy is not going to get them money on the table tomorrow morning. From that point of view, what we can do is limited. Obviously, support is very important, and in terms of how to go about getting a package put in place, we would support the growers' cause.

Mr. Jim O'Regan:

I am in a unique position in that I farm in the north in Kilkenny and also east of Cork city, so I can give a perfect example of what went wrong in the area near the south coast and up the west as well. In 2015, if a grower was harvesting less than 4 tonnes to the acre in any area north of the River Blackwater, he would be asked what he did wrong and how come he had such poor yields. At the same time, yields on the south coast were what I would call "Mr. Average" yields of 3 tonnes to 3.5 tonnes to the acre, compared with 4 tonnes to 6 tonnes per acre further north. To move on to the autumn of 2015, we sowed our crops - winter barley, winter wheat and winter oats - and they emerged in fabulous condition.

Everything seemed perfect until the turn of Christmas and we went into the beginning of 2016. We had horrendous storms on the south west coast and on the west coast. It was what is described as a dry storm. The salt spray was blown in off the sea onto the crops. If it was a storm with rain it would have washed the salt off the plant, but it stayed on the plant. Consequently, it burned the plant. It burned most of it out. In fairness to Teagasc at the time, its view was that even the crops that survived would not perform. How right Teagasc was. Even the crops that survived did not perform. It was damage due to the salt burn. Farmers, I suppose, as typical farmers will do, tried to save their crops in every way possible. They sprayed trace elements. They sprayed foliar feed in every way to try and save the crop, but alas, in many cases we failed.

We had a very wet spring in the south and the planting of the 2016 spring crops went very late. The problem was possibly starting there again. We went into the harvest of 2016, and there is where I can give the perfect example. Every bit of cereals that I had east and north of Cork city were harvested, wrapped up and bailed in perfect condition for the All-Ireland Hurling Final on 3 September and the growers south west of the city and along the west coast were not even able to commence. I would say would not have found five tillage farmers from south Cork at the all-Ireland ploughing match, on 26 or 27 of September. Where were they? They were out trying to salvage their crops, and I mean "salvage". I spoke at the Minister's forum on the tillage sector here a month ago and I said that the tillage sector on the south coast was on a life-support machine. The committee members all know what a life-support machine is. It is on death's knell.

We move forward from there. We have engaged in considerable lobbying of public representatives, quite a few of whom are here today. We had a meeting in Kinsale on Thursday evening last. There was a grower there who is one of the best growers in Ireland with excellent tillage land. He sold his produce for €89 a tonne. That is what he got. He salvaged it. The questions those growers put to us were, "How can we pay our bills? What will we use to pay our bills between here and Christmas?" They simply cannot pay them.

Those growers need an immediate aid package. This loan is fine over the next five years and we welcome it but those growers need an immediate aid package to tide them over until next year. There is precedent here for this. In the winter of 2009-10, there was a lot of frost damage done to the vegetable and potato sectors. There was an aid package put in place at that stage for that sector. In 2013-14, we had Storm Darwin. It damaged farm-owned forest on the Cork-Limerick-Tipperary border and there was an aid package put in place. How come an aid package cannot be put in place for growers who suffered similar weather damage? Is there something about being a cereal farmer that one is condemned to being a second-class citizen?

It is no longer acceptable that tillage farmers can be treated like dirt. Aid can be secured for other sectors. If there is a price drop in a produce, we can go to Europe and get support for it. For example, there was a grant system announced 12 months ago and €400 million was allocated for every other sector bar a tillage farmer. How come the tillage farmers were left outside the door in that?

The Minister made a presentation here today on the greyhound sector - we were in the Visitors Gallery listening to it - and he used an important phrase. It is a phrase that I have heard time and time again over the past few months. All the tillage farmers ask for is to be treated fairly. The Minister said he had to have "a level playing pitch". All we want is a level playing field. That is what we ask for. It is our right. Whether it is grant aid, dairy aid or anything else, if there is aid being provided to one sector of Irish farming it should be provided to all.

I will give an example of my own situation. I have a young son at home farming, just married and taking over the farm in time. His next-door neighbour is a young dairy farmer. They went to national school and second level school together. After second level, one studied dairying and the other did tillage, and both of them got their green certificates. How come it is the position that the dairy farmer can get a grant aid for a rotary milking parlour and my son cannot qualify for a grant to buy three basic tools on a tillage farm, such as a sprayer, a combination unit for sowing and a spreader to spread fertiliser? Those are three basic tools. They should be included and if they are not we are effectively saying that tillage farmers are not equal and are not entitled to the same level of aid. If they are not included, they are being put at a competitive disadvantage to their next-door neighbour and that, basically, is immoral.

To turn to the value of our sector, for too long the tillage or cereal sector has been looked upon as the provider of a cheap feed policy. We must move away from the cheap feed policy. We, in the south, have been pushing for something. We googled something last night. There is, on that list, a distilling sector right around the country, virtually in every county up the west coast and down the east coast. Some of the most prominent ones are in my own county. We are the providers of the raw material for that. I attended a Bord Bia seminar recently in Cork where Mr. Aidan Cotter, a most respected gentleman, made a presentation. What is the prize product within Bord Bia presently? Irish whiskey is first. That is the number one growing product. If tillage farmers are given a fair opportunity we can ride out the storm but first, there has to be immediate aid for the farmers affected.

We provide the raw material for three prime products for export presently, namely, the whiskey sector, the micro-beer sector and Flahavan's. Flahavan's is a perfect example in that I supply a lot of quality oats to it. These are niche products. Those sectors will die if we are allowed die. Look what happened to our beet sector. It was thrown away for 30 pieces of silver and as the gentleman here stated, we are moaning the loss of it ever since.

Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I thank Mr. Regan for highlighting the issues. I want to include more members if possible. I call Deputies Cahill, Pringle, Michael Collins, Ned O'Keeffe and Martin Ferris, in that order.

Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the president of IFA and the grain growers.

I do not want to be critical. There are two issues here. There is the problem in the grain sector, which is ongoing for a number of years, involving poor prices and the drop in the single farm payment. There are income issues. Last year, the record grain harvest disguised some of the income problems. Then there is the immediate problem of the 400 farmers who, due to horrific weather conditions, have lost most of their crop. When we are making the points, we should divorce the two issues.

The grain sector, as Mr. O'Regan stated, is most important for a number of other sectors in the country. We have lost our beet sector. If one goes back to the fodder crisis we had a couple of years ago, we ended up importing hay from the UK. If we had held our beet sector, that would never have happened because the by-products of the beet sector would have filled that gap. I grew up in a town where there was a sugar beet factory and I recall the smell of the pulp in the morning, the employment it created, etc. We lost that sector. If we do not mind ourselves, we will loose our grain sector as well. Acreage has dropped significantly and straw prices have gone through the roof. I suppose the yield of straw was back.

It shows how important the by-products of the grain industry are to the agriculture sector. We need to have a hard look at where our cereal sector is going.

The points have been well made about the immediate problem of establishing a crisis fund. There are precedents in the horticulture and forestry sectors and there was a fund when EU exports to Russia were banned. A huge fund was put in place for eastern European farmers to compensate them for the loss of that market. We had a robust exchange with the Minister earlier. Deputy McConalogue made it crystal clear that low interest loans should not prevent the setting up of a crisis fund. If I learned one thing today, I learned that. Hiding behind a low interest loan scheme to prevent a crisis fund is not correct. The two can operate in tandem. That is a foundation to work on and that is what we have to do. These farmers have a cashflow crisis with no income coming in. The amount being sought in the overall context is not huge. The ball is firmly back in the Minister's court and this has to be delivered on. Mr. Healy said he was going to Brussels in the morning about different issues, but pressure has to put on there as well. At the end of the day, there is an obligation on the Minister to deliver for these 400 farmers.

The co-operative I supply milk to is a significant purchaser of grain. Any crop sown this winter has been sown on merchant credit. The low interest loan has a part to play in the grain industry going forward but it has to be divorced from the crisis in Cork and along the western seaboard. As Deputy McConalogue said, we will maintain maximum pressure. The debate is going on for a few months and we have not made progress with the Minister. Earlier, he was steadfast that the cheap loans will be in place by the end of January and that was all the comfort he gave to grain growers. That is not enough and every opportunity we get, whether it is in the Dáil or at this committee, we will do our maximum to keep the pressure on. We are going to Brussels tomorrow to meet officials over the next two days. We will raise the issue and see the response from the Commission. One hopes there will be a chink of light to see how this fund can be delivered because fair play is good play. If other sectors got it, why should grain farmers not get it?

Mr. Healy raised the issue of exclusion from the previous targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS. We have to get into these issues to establish where the grain sector is going. A debate on the future of the sector and the very important part it plays in different industries might be the subject of another meeting. Bord Bia representatives made a presentation to the committee a few weeks ago. Cereal growers are a cornerstone of what the board is trying to do with a number of products and we have to do something to protect the growers. We have lost enough acreage and we have to move to protect the industry. When the IFA is lobbying, it should divorce the hardship fund from the crisis. Both have to be dealt with politically and they are very important to the association as a lobbyist. It looks like another crisis in 2017 as we sit here in the final month of 2016. Our grain industry will need material help to get over this crunch. It would be a shame to let it go and we have to do whatever we can whenever we can to highlight it.

Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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I thank the delegation for the presentation. The committee will make as strong a representation as it can to the Minister to get a hardship fund in place. It is clear from all the contributions that the issue has gone on too long at this stage and it needs to be addressed. Has the IFA had any response to its action plan from the Government? What feedback is the association getting on it? Has it had discussions with distillers about native grain and malt for the production of whiskey and what feedback has it had from them on sustaining native grain through them?

With regard to the tariff and anti-dumping duties at European level, is the Government supporting the IFA on that? Will Mr. Healy comment on whether the EU competition authority will examine that issue? These are medium to long-term solutions but getting the hardship fund in place is the primary issue initially to keep things ticking over.

Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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I appreciate the quick response from the Chairman and the committee to my written request to invite grain farmers before the committee together with the IFA. I thank the IFA representatives for their presentation. I have visited many farms in west Cork that are in serious difficulty since September. I raised on many occasions in the Dáil through Leaders' Questions and parliamentary questions to the Minister the difficulties that grain farmers have been experiencing but, to date, other than the offer of low interest loans, which means kicking the can down the road, nothing concrete has been offered such as a cereal aid package for the survival of our grain farmers. I have also requested the MEPs from Ireland South to support the case for the compensation of these farmers. It is a sector that is discriminated against for some reason. Many Deputies and Senators have been pushing this issue for the past three months and something is preventing the Minister from making a decision that makes a great deal of sense. Precedents were set in the horticulture sector in 2009, the forestry sector in 2013 with the replanting arrangements and the dairy sector in 2015.

I have witnessed the devastation in west Cork and along the west coast. Will Mr. O'Regan outline the losses coastal grain farmers have suffered this year? The winter grain crop has to be resown because of the weather. Salt and storm damage then hit the crop and wiped out much of it, with it having to be replaced by a spring crop. Will he quantify the cost of the resowing, the overall loss of the winter barley crop, the cost of resetting, and the loss suffered in the autumn? Will grain growers survive this year's bad weather without compensation? Will they be forced out of business? Does the industry have a future?

Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Chairman for the opportunity to contribute to the meeting. I welcome Mr. Healy and the various IFA tillage sector representatives. They have my support. I am coming at this from a different angle because I want to know where we go next. I have been fighting on this issue for almost ten months. Farmers in Whitegate and Churchtown South in my constituency have taken a double hit with crop damage. As Mr. O'Regan said, a sea mist created a salt drift and destroyed the crop. These farmers replanted most of these fields again with a spring crop and were prepared to take a hit with reduced yields, but there was more bad weather and, therefore, they took a double hit. Everyone has referred to solutions. I have a case full of correspondence with the previous Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. I tried to fight the case on behalf of these farmers on the basis that it was as serious a welfare issue as those who were flooded. I could have two farmers in south County Cork. One is a beef farmer with a shed in place and the neighbour has his winter grain sown.

On welfare grounds, the farmer with the cattle shed gets a few bob to refurbish the premises but what about the welfare of the farmer who lost his crop?

I have done some research and came across the provisions for vegetable growers put in place by the then Minister, Deputy Brendan Smith, in the Government before last. I put a parliamentary question to the Minister on this issue, Parliamentary Question No. 510 of 11 October 2016, and I had to go back to the Ceann Comhairle for a proper answer. The Minister had said there was leeway and that gives me hope, but I am concerned he is trying to subsume tillage problems into one big issue. I spoke about this at a stakeholders' meeting on 5 October. I am frightened for the man who has no money for 2017, having suffered a substantial loss of income. I an worried that his problems are falling on deaf ears and I had hoped the Minister would be stronger on this issue. There are big farmers in the tillage sector but many are family farmers. The previous Minister said, four or five years ago, that if they cannot handle the tillage sector they should get into milk. I thought that was a very bad thing to say. Farmers have stuck with it, though, and Deputy Charlie McConalogue raised a Topical Issue matter on 5 October in the Dáil, on the same day as he was meeting stakeholders. The Minister replied, "Until we have a full picture, I will not jump into making any hasty announcements regarding the measures we might consider appropriate". I hope he is still so minded. Teagasc figures are still not fully in and I am hoping that we have not shut the door on this issue.

The price of grain is a disaster but other areas of the farm sector have benefited from it. These farms are genuine operators. I spoke to some in east Cork, in the areas of Whitegate, Churchtown South and Ballycotton, who have taken advantage of the good weather and planted winter grain again this year. I hope the Minister does not think farmers who sowed winter grain last year, and got caught out, should have learned their lesson. Winter grain has been sowed here for many years and Teagasc will confirm that.

The Minister announced the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland to lend money at low interest rates, which is good if a person can repay his loans. Any farmer would try to take advantage of this facility but there is only so much to go around. When applications are made to banks the priority will be those in the dairy sector, whose milk has gone up in price, and in beef where the product is guaranteed, though the price fluctuates. Tillage is being seriously neglected. I am asking for advice as I have a caseful of documentation but I have been stonewalled in every attempt to find a solution so far. I hope that the power of this committee and the IFA will force the Minister to listen.

Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy made a lot of points about the number of farmers involved and in Mr. Conway's review 200 farmers came back with results. Has the IFA put a timescale on where that is going? When does it expect to have final details? As Deputy O'Keeffe said, until we have a final picture it will be hard to see where we are going.

Mr. Joe Healy:

We will have all that information in ten days.

Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Can Mr. Healy pass the information on to us? We could then forward it on.

Mr. Joe Healy:

Yes. Every speaker has agreed with us that, while low-interest money is welcome, it is not the immediate answer to the crisis on people's doorsteps.

Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I am not here to defend anybody but as a result of a lot of lobbying in the past year and a half, we ensured that the TAMS scheme included tillage farmers. That is welcome and I hope it will be rolled out in the new year. We also lobbied to ensure that tillage farmers would be included in the loan scheme, which was not the case initially. I hear the views of different members, and of the IFA, but tillage farmers have not been left out. The Minister said there would be an ongoing review of the farmers who applied for it so that no sector dominated, and that is the right thing to do.

Mr. Joe Healy:

We had lobbied for the inclusion of tillage farmers. The word from Brussels was that the money was for dairy and other livestock sectors.

Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Yes. The money for tillage farmers comes from the matching funding put in by the Government. Europe was not providing any money for the tillage sector but the Government put in €14 million in matching funding.

Martin Ferris (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the IFA for its presentation. I have met with a number of people in the past seven or eight weeks who have practically lost their income for the year. I have met with the local IFA leadership and have been very well briefed. Everything that has been said today is consistent with what I have seen with my own two eyes, and heard from those people. It is very worrying that 400 family farmers have lost their income for the year. I might be on my own on this but I do not accept for one minute that low-interest loans are the solution. In fact, I think they could contribute to the problem. If there is no aid package people will borrow money to pay debts for a year and I am very sceptical about it. There must be no other outcome than an aid crisis package to the 400 people who are in this situation through no fault of their own but because the elements militated against them.

There should be no ambiguity in any political party or among Independents about their support for those farmers. This is an equality situation. There are precedents going back to 2009, 2010 and 2013. If this is not delivered it will be a violation of the equality of the people in our agricultural sector. An agreed message from the committee to the Minister should go out, clear and strong, that an aid package must be made available forthwith to alleviate the suffering of cereal farmers at this time. The situation requires equality of treatment in line with precedents. The Government has to live up to equality demands and there should be no ambiguity. It must not be pushed down the road with low-interest loans because without an aid package things will be made worse. It involves a small number of farmers and a small amount of money but a big impact on local economies, families and communities.

They deserve our support and I have no doubt it will be forthcoming.

Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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A few specific questions have been put.

Mr. Joe Healy:

On Deputy Aindrias Moynihan's question, I will pass over to Mr. Conway because the 200 replies went to him. To give an example of an analysis of the prices I saw earlier in the year, when €115 was mentioned as a green price at the very start, an independent analysis said that even in the perfect year, at three and a half tonnes to the acre, allowing for €40 for straw, a farmer on his own land stood to lose €58 per acre. I ask the committee to keep that in mind when Mr. O'Brien talks about having to sell one field of corn or barley at 30.2% moisture for €97.50 at one tonne to the acre. That gives some idea of the size of the losses.

Mr. Conway might now talk about the emerging patterns that Deputy Aindrias Moynihan asked about.

Mr. Fintan Conway:

The real emerging pattern is the very high levels of moisture. In terms of the crop loss, it varies from 30% to 70%. However, there is no trend by area or by county because farmers a couple of miles away could have harvested while a next door neighbour bombed out. It was very much dependent on when the crop was ripe and whether the farmer had the machine to cut it. The crop loss was extremely variable within localities, which we have not seen before. In 1985 and 1986, I was involved in the early days of the grain trade. That time, the problem was across every farm in every area. However, this year it is just in particular areas. Liam beside me could bomb out, Joe could have cut his crop and Jim could have bombed out as well. What happened on farms was very variable, very localised and very individualised. It was very unusual. We have been talking to the French, who are in a similar situation. Their loss was probably on a more geographically widespread basis. It was a similar situation in which one farm might have bombed out and another might have saved 50% to 80% of crops. It was a very unusual weather event. I have only seen it once before.

Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Exactly what other information will be in the survey, as regards the exact costs at the moment and where the big outstanding expenses are? Are there outstanding payments to the merchants, the contractors or whoever else, or have they been paid? Where are the big stumbling blocks? Will that be a part of the survey or is it actually just about the amount of land involved and how much of it is owned or rented? What level of detail will there be in the survey?

Tim Lombard (Fine Gael)
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I know the IFA is putting together a survey. What is the situation with Teagasc putting figures together to help the IFA's case? Has the IFA been talking to Teagasc and has the latter been helpful in putting together the summary of the issues that exist? If Teagasc were involved, that report would be very helpful to this committee. I still believe that we need to go to the Minister and probably to Europe to get something sorted. If Teagasc was tied in on the process, it would help the IFA's case.

Mr. Fintan Conway:

We have focused on mimicking what the crop insurance companies do in southern Europe. Essentially, what they look at is the five-year trend yield and then they establish what the yield loss is, etc. The figures that are normally used invariably come from the likes of Teagasc or some other body across Europe. In this case, Teagasc has identified the costings involved. They are very transparent. The best and only way to focus on that is to used an established body like Teagasc. We have used the norms that the insurance industry use to establish the loss.

Mr. John Daly:

We have been involved in growing grain all of our lives, from as far back as I can remember. I remember cutting corn in 1985. We used to cut wheat at night and barley during the day. At that time, we had only half the combine power we have now. In 1985, along with the contractors, we managed to cut every acre of corn that was to be cut. This year, we did not. I have never ever seen crops in the state they were this year over such a vast area. I uploaded photographs onto the iPad today to show the committee how bad it was. I have never seen it before. My father said that he had never in his life experienced a situation whereby we did not get the corn cut. However, this year, we did not.

We welcome the low-interest loans, but they are not the solution to our problem. We need a cash injection to pay the bills. Merchants are ringing looking for their payment for their input for the year. The basic payment for the single farm is gone but the bills still are not paid. Bills remain outstanding. There is another chunk of the single payment hopefully coming this week, but there will still be substantial bills outstanding after this year. This year comes after three average harvests. There was no reserve coming into this year. Now here we are, with the weather crisis having inflicted losses of between 30% and 100%. We cut farms of sizes ranging from 10 acres to 400 acres and there was not one that did not experience losses.

That is just in grain. There were 50% losses in straw alone in our area. There is high demand for straw in our area because, while there are not that many tillage farmers, the dairy and beef farmers constantly need straw. They are frustrated that we were unable to supply it.

As far back as the ploughing championships, we met the Minister, Deputy Creed, who told us that we would have to go to Europe. About three weeks ago, an IFA delegation went to Brussels where we met Mr. Tom Tynan. His exact words were: "Stay knocking on Kildare Street until you get it." He said that at the time there was no traction in Europe unless the French got on board. When the French got on board time had rolled on, however, so they do not have as much support in the European Parliament now as they would have had at the time of the harvest. Therefore, their support is being watered down.

We met with Deputies McConalogue and Cahill earlier and I must commend them for the way they targeted the Minister, Deputy Creed, for the necessary crisis funding. I was in the Visitors Gallery and they really did give it their all. Unless we receive support from every politician to get this over the line, the tillage industry will be on a slippery slope, especially in the western corridor from Cork to Donegal. It cannot be sustained so we need a cash injection to get us out of this hole.

Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Okay. Mr. O'Regan has a couple of questions to answer.

Mr. Jim O'Regan:

The cost of replanting per acre, based on Teagasc figures, would be about €120. Approximately 200 growers are affected in the Dáil constituency of Cork South-West, which is more or less from Senator Lombard's area out to Mizen Head. It is a strong tillage area as the Senator knows, including Kinsale where tillage is concentrated, and consequently a huge number of growers are affected.

I was asked if those growers have a future but I am afraid the answer is "no", unless an aid package is put in place. As the IFA president, Mr. Healy said, costs are almost €400 an acre while income is just over €100. There is no hope for those growers, so I ask everyone in this committee room to consider them. How will they face Christmas? It is a nightmare situation for them. I was also asked whether there was a future, and there is. We have some of the best tillage farmers and land in Europe. There is a future if we are treated fairly and the industry is given a fair run for its money. Deputies O'Keeffe and Michael Collins sent me a note on farms and I spoke to some of their constituents last night. They have the cream of land down in the Whitegate area, but they got wiped out this year by weather damage, through no fault of their own. It is a one in 30-year cycle. Every politician, regardless of party, should put their shoulder to the wheel. Aid can be obtained if there is a will to make the effort.

Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I will now ask Mr. Dunne and Mr. Healy to wrap up this section.

Mr. Liam Dunne:

I will do that end of it, Chairman, if that is okay.

Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Yes.

Mr. Liam Dunne:

Mr. O'Regan is right. There will only be a future if these people get support. If they do not, then a large proportion of this area will go out to grass. That means that a large proportion of the grain and straw produced in these areas, which are closest to the market place and where transport costs are low, will be lost. In addition, stubble ground takes up a huge amount of slurry and municipal waste after the crops. Under the Nitrates Directive we need another 50% of land for pig slurry and another 25% or 30% for chicken layer. A reduction will cause problems in that respect. We have already seen straw losses.

If the ground producing straw is lost in future we will have another problem due to an uneven balance in the supply and demand for straw. My neighbours and I will certainly not complain if the price of straw stays up, but if one is running along the margins one will run into severe problems in some years with a consequent fodder crisis again. I do not want to see tillage land being lost in the west of Ireland. It may not be obvious to many people, but biodiversity is required in such areas, instead of having all grass we also badly need cereals.

I will briefly run through the remaining questions. Deputy Pringle asked what progress was being made with the medium-term items on our list. We raised all these issues at the forum. As regards the use of native grains in rations, a lot of the mills have taken on board the lessons learned since our visit to the seaside during the summer. There will be further talks with many of them in order to put a scheme in place. We could do with departmental support on that.

As regards the importation of harmful weed seeds, that really is down to the Department. I am sure that many members of the committee watch the Australian TV programme "Nothing to Declare", so they will clearly know how strict those authorities are on what can be brought in. All grains imported from outside Ireland need to be screened in order to solve the problem simply.

As regards native grains in whiskey and beer, the brewers and distillers have told us they will become more involved with malt and barley growers, and will give them more support. We welcome that but we also need this committee's support.

There is serious resistance on the Continent to the abolition of tariffs on fertiliser imports. One may ask why, given that European farmers are also buying fertilisers. The structure of farming on the Continent is quite different, however, because most cereal growers there are within large co-ops, on an even larger scale than our dairy farmers and Glanbia here. Those continental co-ops are often owners or part-owners of fertiliser companies. They are producing fertiliser themselves and supplying it to their own farmers. In addition, there is a profit dividend which goes back to the growers. It is a totally different structure from ours, so we are being left out on a limb. We are certainly not on a level playing field where fertiliser is concerned.

As regards the competition authority and plant protection products, we see a major problem coming down the line with Brexit. The British are one of our allies when it comes to negotiations on plant protection, including price and availability, but if they quit the system we will be left out on a limb. We are very worried about it. After Brexit, we could and most probably will see genetically modified products being grown in the UK, right on our doorstep. Some of that could easily be filtered back in here.

It is down to the Minister to sort out the expansion of the protein area in Brussels and get us an answer. He should give us a chance to expand that a little further. We have grown fully into what was asked of us and we will continue to do so if we can.

We would like to see the immediate roll-out of TAMS, and we mean now. We know from our talks with Department officials that they are practically ready for this. It is up to the Minister to announce it . We would hope to see an announcement before Christmas. We think that is possible and it should be done. A lot of equipment will be available to all sizes of tillage farmers, including quite small equipment that will be useful to many people whose incomes are under severe pressure.

We have a simple request concerning a reduction in the burden of compliance with greening, which would solve the three-crop rule problem, that is, equivalence. Through a GLAS, one can be allowed to grow one crop provided that one supplies green cover. The issue at the moment is that Brussels is insisting on 100% green cover. As it is, however, one is allowed to grow 75% of one crop, so one is only talking about the extra 25%. Therefore, that green cover should be 25%.

We have a very small number of farmers who are trying to grow 100% green cover. It is almost impossible. That small change would make a substantial difference for all the growers along the coast. They could grow just the one crop, a spring crop, where the barley is needed and there is a market for it, rather than growing crops for which there is not a market. We have asked the previous and current Ministers as well as raising it repeatedly in Brussels. It is a small, simple change and we do not seem to be able to effect it.

Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Does that require consent from Europe?

Mr. Liam Dunne:

It does, yes, and that seems to be a problem. It seems to be that it is kicked back and forth. They say 100% and we and the officials ask for 25%. We have to leave it back to the committee and the Minister to try to sort that out. We will keep pushing it.

On the renewable heat incentive, give us the opportunity to grow other crops to supply energy that would not have to be imported and we will do it. That is all we ask. We can do it. Given the opportunity to grow something that has a profit, why we would continue to grow grain, which has very minimal profit in it, when we could grow something else which would be of benefit and reduce imports? All we need is a chance to do that and we would take it up willingly.

John Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate the opportunity to address the committee. As a Kerry Deputy, I am fully aware of the issues and I have in my parish and constituency many of those 400 farmers who are affected. The issue is very real for us in Kerry.

I apologise if the following has been said already. I remember during the very severe frost of a number of years ago, probably 2010 or 2011, that there was a complete wipeout of the crop of the vegetable growers in north Dublin and a fund was found for them, and deservedly so. They received an aid package that got them out of the turmoil they were in during that particular year. If it is good enough for Dublin, it is good enough for the west.

I ask that we convey to the Minister that there is cross-party support for this fund. It can be found. If it was given then, it could be applied pro ratain this case and we could get a very quick decision, which is what is needed. I fully support the delegation. There is always a fund and if it can be found for one, it should be found for all others. We should treat everyone equally and I would like to see that applied to the tillage and grain growers of the west.

Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I thank the IFA, Mr. Healy and his delegation, for attending the meeting and highlighting the issue. As can be seen, there is consensus. What we need to do as a committee is issue a report in the next couple of days. I hope the delegation members can feed into it any information they have from the survey as soon as they have it because that is very important. There are different figures, for example, Deputy Brassil saying there are 400 in his parish, so we need to get final figures to see where we are going. We will issue a report to the Minister.

There has to be a European element to this as well because that is very important. We will copy the report to the Commission. There may be a need for a committee delegation to Brussels. I know the witnesses are going there tomorrow and it is important they keep banging away on that drum, irrespective of what others may have said in recent weeks. The drum needs to be banged, so to speak, over there as well as here and both feed into the one, as it were. I thank the delegation for attending the meeting today.

Mr. Joe Healy:

We will supply to the committee the figures that can be supported, as well as all the other information. I acknowledge the support of all on the committee. We have had words at this meeting, but what we need is action. The word "no" is not an option for the farmers in difficulty. Their desperation was hammered home to me today by a man who owns six acres of land, who has rented 180 acres of land and who has salvaged less than 50% of the crop. For that man, "no" is not an option. The power exists. The fund can, will and should be found for such people.

Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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This committee will not be found wanting. We have not been found wanting before and we will do whatever we can, regardless of sector. I can assure the delegation of that. I thank the witnesses for attending the committee. I thank the members for their patience. We have been here since 3 o'clock on a number of matters, it has been a long day and I thank them for their forbearance and patience.