Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the fact the Minister has tried it. There are a number of precedents for the use of the EU solidarity fund aid, which has been used on 20 occasions to aid farmers. These included two occasions in 2002 when farmers in Austria were assisted in the midst of a food crisis similar to that being experienced by Irish farmers currently. I echo the call to extend the transport subsidy scheme in order that it can take in commercial imports that could pass on savings to farmers. This would take some of the pressure of farmers affected, by reducing the costs of imports and transport.

While current weather conditions appear to promise the situation will not get worse, there is a need to ensure measures are in place to prevent a repeat situation in the autumn. The current crisis could have been anticipated on the basis of bad weather in previous years. While no-one can predict what conditions will be like later this year, the possibility of another exceptionally wet summer must be considered and contingency plans must be put in place.

In most instances, those involved in the political sector here have behaved responsibly during the crisis and have given leadership in their areas. We should learn from the experience of this year and the lack of a structure so as to be better able to deal with any future crisis. I have serious concerns about next year, more so than now. There has been great growth in the past week. I have been out around the farming community all this weekend and have seen people put their cattle out, albeit they will be cutting their first crop of silage. This will take the pressure off this year, but next year could be a serious situation, because farmers are already down one crop of silage for the year. We must learn from the failings now and put provisions in place. Nobody can predict future weather conditions. The seven weeks of easterly winds we had this year did enormous damage to the grass crop and put a lot of pressure on farmers. Many of them spread fertilizer, but it did not work because of the weather conditions.

See this speech in context