Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)

I was in the Minister's constituency last night in Cootehill at a public meeting with a couple of hundred farmers. One farmer came up to me after the meeting with a letter from his bank manager. The letter stated that the bank manager wanted to see him as a matter of urgency, in light of the fact that he was no longer in a position to pay his farm waste management loan, and on that basis, the manager wanted to review his working capital provision for 2009. That letter is replicated the length and breadth of the country, from Cork to Cavan and from Wexford to Donegal.

The Minister has stated in the House that he is hoping to conclude a deal with the banks on this issue. The estimated cost to farmers is approximately €9 million over three years. If the State were to take on board that liability, it would possibly be on even more favourable terms. Farmers entered into a contractual agreement in good faith with the Minister and the Department, which he has now unilaterally torn up in their face and told them he will not pay them their money as expected, even though he enticed them to complete the works before 31 December. We discovered in hindsight that this was an artificial deadline imposed by the Minister in order to deliberately exclude farmers from the scheme.

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