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

There should be no perception that by telephoning that animal welfare helpline farmers should have anything to fear. They should not. This is a pragmatic response of getting feed to animals that need it, that might otherwise starve. It is working. There is no ceiling on that fund. As it is needed throughout the summer and if it is needed next winter it will still be there.

As regards credit, a fairly regular occurrence in this House is to criticise the banks and the banking system, which is understandable. However, I have spent some time on this matter with the key banks, Ulster Bank, AIB, Bank of Ireland and Rabo, which all maintain to me that they have significant credit available for farmers and want farmers to talk to them about it. However, as I have said repeatedly, if farmers go to their banks about issues relating to this fodder crisis but do not get the response they need, then I need to hear about it. I will then aggressively challenge the banks on this because I have got strong commitments that there are teams of bank staff in place who want to help farmers bridge credit problems between now and the autumn by putting short-term loan facilities in place or increasing overdraft facilities. If one checks Bank of Ireland’s books, one will see 65% of farmers have still not maxed out their overdraft facilities. I encourage farmers to challenge the banking system and use it. If it is not working, my Department wants to hear about it.

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