Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:

"acknowledges the very difficult situation which has been facing farmers in light of the fodder shortage caused by unseasonal weather and the resulting delay of grass growth;

notes the fact that efforts have been on-going since last September to alleviate the fodder situation after a poor summer, through Teagasc, the Farm Animal Welfare Advisory Council and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine's Emergency Animal Welfare System and the fact that the delayed spring has unfortunately elevated this issue to a more serious level in recent weeks;

recognises the on-going financial assistance and advice being provided to farmers through the Farm Animal Welfare Advisory Council's early warning system and helpline, which has dealt with approximately 550 calls to date;

notes the introduction of a €1 million Government transport subsidy scheme, which has to date resulted in approximately 600 loads of fodder being imported into the country;

acknowledges that the Government extended this scheme until the 10th of May in consideration of continuing challenges facing farmers;

recognises the significant efforts made by co-ops to source and import fodder, to reduce costs to farmers by providing credit flexibility and interest free credit for fertiliser;

acknowledges the additional initiatives introduced by the farming organisations, the Irish Dairy Board and other organisations to assist farmers in recent days;

notes that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and his Department have met and been in regular contact with the banks, co-ops and others in the industry to identify any particular problem areas or difficulties facing farmers as the fodder situation continues;

notes the role being played by the advisory services to date and their on-going advice to farmers in dealing with the provision of adequate fodder stocks for the winter ahead; and

recognises that outstanding farm payments are being processed as quickly as possible to assist farmers in financial difficulty; following the issue of approximately 1,500 Agri-Environmental Options Scheme (AEOS) payments over the last 10 days, close to a further 600 AEOS payments valued at just over €1.3 million are expected to issue within the next week."

I am sharing time with Deputies Kieran O'Donnell, Noel Harrington, Paul J. Connaughton, Tom Hayes and Arthur Spring. I thank the Opposition Deputies for putting down this motion. It gives me an opportunity to outline what is happening and to answer some of the questions they have rightly raised.

There is a total misunderstanding about the level of engagement that has been taking place between my Department, agencies linked to my Department, farming organisations and farmers themselves about the very difficult winter followed by a difficult summer which has become a fodder shortage crisis and which we are managing on that basis. We have been engaging since virtually this time last year with farmers and farming organisations as we had a very difficult summer that was incredibly wet, making it difficult to save hay and silage and that resulted in lower volumes of silage of poorer quality than normal. We knew that and we have been trying to manage that situation throughout the winter. Teagasc advice has focused on that. If the Deputies opposite spoke to farmers on the ground, as I do regularly, they would hear that they have been working through, with their advisers, how to get the best out of their fodder and how to add to that, having to pay much more for increased quantities of meal and so on but also how to get the most out of that roughage and protein mix to ensure that they would extend the limited volumes of fodder they had in storage and to maximise its use. That has been taking place throughout the winter.

The Farm Animal Welfare Advisory Council has also worked through the winter with farming organisations such as the Irish Farmers Association and the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association on a county-by-county basis, working with veterinary surgeons to establish the extent of the problem and focus supports as they are needed on a confidential basis with farmers to ensure that people get assistance when they need it. That has been going on. If the Deputies did not know that it was happening they should have. In recent weeks we have been engaged in crisis management. Everybody, including farming organisations and everybody else, expected that we would have some normalisation of weather patterns this spring. That has not happened. Normally grazing would start towards the end of March but that did not happen. The month of March was one of the wettest on record and it was followed by one of the wettest and coldest Aprils on record. We saw fodder running out and we examined how to assist farmers. Instead of just announcing some form of fodder fund for farmers, for which the Opposition Deputies asked, with no detail as to how that might work, who might apply for it and who would be eligible for it we focused public money where it would alleviate the real problems, which is primarily a fodder access problem. That is why we focused public money on subsidising the transport costs to bring feed into Ireland in very large volumes. That has had two results, it has incentivised co-ops to bring in large volumes of feed because we are paying for it and it has made that feed available to farmers when they desperately need it at prices that they can afford, normal prices for hay and haylage and for maize in the case of Glanbia.

Instead of putting together a fund for farmers for which they would have to apply and for which we would have to go through a long assessment procedure and that would probably not result in payments until July or August because of that process, we put together in 48 hours a scheme that could get money to farmers directly to cover the cost of importing fodder which is badly needed. Yes, this has been a crisis and there are farmers who are highly stressed, concerned and worried about where the next bale of hay will come from for their animals. I have said many times that for many farmers not being able to feed their animals is almost as stressful as not being able to feed their children because of their attachment to, and the time they spend with, their herds. We are working not only through dairy co-ops but through other agencies to get fodder into Ireland in very large quantities and it is working. So far we have brought in 730 loads of hay and maize. That is the equivalent of providing feed for 2.2 million animals in terms of days of feed. There will be another 170 loads before the end of this week and more significant volume next week. For the first time ever Ireland is importing large volumes of fodder and grass because of extraordinary weather patterns last summer, a long winter and delayed spring. This is not just a political response, it is a collective response from the industry, farming organisations, co-ops and neighbours to ensure that farmers who desperately need to access fodder are getting it, by and large. If they are really struggling to get it there is a helpline available and we have a system to get fodder to them quickly. That is also working. There is no ceiling on the funds we will spend on that to ensure that animals are fed. There is no reason why animals should starve regardless of credit problems or problems of access to fodder. I encourage farmers to use that helpline. That is what it is for.

I recognise the role of dairy co-ops and other co-ops and marts working through those co-ops to get fodder out to people as quickly as they can. They have done an extraordinary job. In a very short space of time they have used their logistical expertise to try to solve a short-term crisis problem to get animals fed while waiting for grass growth which has begun. This will be another very wet week which will pose problems, particularly for pockets of the country that are very vulnerable. West Limerick, north Kerry and along the west coast could be badly affected by the banks of rain coming in over the next few days.

I will clarify for the Deputies opposite what we are doing about this fodder scheme. Last week we decided to extend it for an extra week. We are setting deadlines because I want to incentivise the import of large volumes of hay over a short period. I do not want a drip feed through the summer weeks and months as it is needed. Instead, we want a large volume over a short period to kill off this fodder shortage problem early in the summer so that farmers can concentrate on working with their advisers, whether private or Teagasc advisers, or with each other, to manage grazing patterns to try to get cuts of silage in place as well as efficient grazing management to return to some kind of normal grazing season and farmers can benefit from the current strong prices for beef, dairy and other products.

So far we have received 500 or more calls for the emergency animal welfare assistance. A little over 100 of those have been genuine crisis and emergency situations and we have intervened. I am frustrated to hear Deputy Ó Cuív say that we should not do this through district veterinary offices. I challenge him to talk to any one of those 100 farmers who have received assistance from my Department in the past few weeks. It has been sensitive, discreet, confidential and professional. Animals have been fed and there is no consequence for farmers of any kind in the way of inspections or anything else.

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