Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join in congratulating Deputy McEntee on her first speech. I am sure it will be the first of many contributions she will make in this House.

I thank Deputy Ó Cuív for the amount of work he put into this motion. He gave it a good deal of consideration. He has met with the IFA about the serious situation, that of the fodder crisis, that is facing us. I noted that the IFA representatives who met in Galway last Monday called for an immediate extension of the transport subsidy scheme to deal with the ongoing fallout of the fodder crisis. They made the point that extra feedstuffs were estimated to cost €200 million. They also made the point that farmers will have to cope with various knock-on costs such as the decline in the quality of animal being produced.

It is important that we learn from the experiences of the past few months. One of the main objectives is to ensure that there will be no repeat of the fodder crisis later on. Farmer experts have talked about this. An issue that has arisen in my constituency of Galway East is the question of farmers losing money because of the extra spending on feedstuffs. I have been reminded that meal subsidies were introduced as far back as 1974 when Mark Clinton was Minister for Agriculture in the Fine Gael-led Government and in 1989 the then Fianna Fáil-led Government brought in what was known as meal vouchers. I suggest to the Minister that such vouchers should be considered for people who are in great difficulty at the moment. Above all, there is an urgent need for co-operation with the Government agencies, financial institutions and suppliers to help struggling farmers overcome the current challenge. Deputy Ó Cuív suggested the establishment of a €10 million relief fund and the creation of a special unit within the Department to take the lead in addressing the crisis.

The unit he proposed should also review the supply level of fodder and financial credit to ensure that the crisis never occurs again. There are particular difficulties in the west of Ireland. I am not just putting on the poor mouth. Someone said the west is a different country. Deputy Ó Cuív and I might not agree that east Galway is a different country from west Galway but that could be the case. Our grass growth is four to six weeks behind. I was glad to see news reports of fodder arriving in Maam Cross and Clifden in west Galway. There is need for similar action in other parts of the country. At the co-ops in east Galway there are waiting lists of people in need of fodder. I checked this today. I hope that this can be addressed. If the co-ops, which are doing great work, are having difficulty and have to order more feedstuffs I hope that the farming organisations will come forward and do as they have done until now and work together to provide that fodder.

Another practical proposal that has been made concerns the grants due for payment which I hope will be paid as quickly as possible. That is a practical way to help with cash flow which is so crucial. It was suggested last night that Teagasc would make free advice available. I hope that will happen. I am glad to see that the IFA has created a €1 million relief fund and that the dairy board has established a €2 million fund for redistribution to dairy farmers. I compliment the farming organisations and all the people involved in agriculture in rural Ireland on giving so much help. Neighbours are helping each other out and the traditional Irish meitheal is very much to the fore. Our plea to the Minister is to extend the transport fodder scheme. That is a very practical proposal. We need proper planning for the future. Much more needs to be done. Will the IFA and other farming organisations help out in the spirit of the meitheal by ordering more bales? The co-ops in east Galway and in the west of Ireland have played their part. Connacht Gold was mentioned yesterday evening. Arrabawn has also helped. It has branches in many towns in my constituency, Mountbellew, Killimer, Kilconnell, Clonberne and Athenry and we have a great deal of contact with Athlone which is not too far away and is one of the major branches. All these branches are working together as they have to do because there is a waiting list for the provision of fodder. We hope that more food can be ordered and that the IFA and other farming organisations can help.

The price per bale or tonne of feed is also very important because we must have prices that are sustainable and some of the products are quite dear. The cash flow difficulties must be addressed. The promise of €50 million in credit from the AIB is very welcome but it is very important to have flexibility in finance because this is an industry that is exposed to weather and markets. It is very distressing to read the figures for fallen animals and the 26% increase, if that is the correct figure, in the number of animal deaths on farms in the first quarter of this year compared with last year. There is great sadness among farm families that this has happened. There are animal welfare problems but also huge losses. These losses come after very cold weather during which there were other losses, particularly in Donegal where there was great distress.

The agri-environmental options scheme, AEOS, 1 and 2 and the rural environment protection scheme, REPS, payments are most important. A case was made about the disadvantaged areas scheme because it affects the west of Ireland and it has been proposed to reverse the stocking density requirements under that scheme, which I hope the Minister will consider. We need every extra blade of grass and we should not be considering higher stocking densities this year when the situation is so serious for our farming community. While Ireland holds the Presidency of the European Union and the Minister is chairing many of the meetings he should work hard to bring forward payments and to deal particularly with the stocking density under the disadvantaged areas scheme. I hope that in considering Deputy Ó Cuív's motion the Minister will see that much more needs to be done. Everyone in the farming community is delighted that some work is being done but much more needs to be done and we must work hard to ensure that every grant is paid in time and if possible that moneys are brought forward as happens with the single farm payment.

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