Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I welcome the fact that the Minister has been engaging with the IFA. I also welcome the fact that there is an acknowledgment of the financial hardship being endured by farmers as a result of the fodder crisis. However, the difficulty is that the dole was protected in the last budget but farm assist, which is effectively farmers' dole, was not protected. It fell between two stools because it is both a farming and a social protection issue. I know from private conversations with the Minister that she understands that farmers are under constraints. I would like her to discuss this matter with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney and the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, to see how we can protect unviable family farms, of which there are many. While there are many good news stories in the agrifood sector and money is being made in some sectors, it is costing many small farmers to keep going at the moment.

Another issue is the fact that there are different interpretations of what can be included as farming expenses. For example, a farmer who pays for diesel for a trip to the vet cannot include this as an allowable expense for the purposes of the means test.

Not all farmers are in the same situation but the danger is that farmers will be tempted away from farming as a result of this measure. There is a big debate about the definition of "productive farming". These farms are not productive, but the farmers work against massive constraints with regard to fodder, fertiliser and grain costs. They have massive financial pressures. If farmers decide to leave farming, it will be a bigger problem for our overall agriculture sector and is something on which we should focus. Will the Minister of State contact the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, and the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, on this matter with regard to next year's budget?

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