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

I thank the Minister. I appreciate the work done during this terrible period by the Minister, the Minister of State, Deputy Simon Harris, the farming organisations and communities to try to help each other in very difficult circumstances. This January and at the end of December, land was flooded that had never been flooded before. Some tens of thousands of acres were damaged.

The weight of water on top killed off vegetation and grass, and farmers will have to plough, rotovate, re-seed and fertilise their land in order to get it back working, hopefully, by June or early July. Until then, they will be at a loss for grazing. Tillage farmers had tens of thousands of acres of potatoes in the ground before Christmas, and they have lost them. Are there any provisions in the Minister's proposals to help or compensate these farmers in some way for the losses they have incurred?

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