Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their questions. The Government has done a great deal of contingency planning for Brexit. This work has been done across all Departments and has been co-ordinated by the Department of the Taoiseach. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has been representing the interests of the agrifood sector as it has been feeding into the Brexit contingency process. Those interests can be summed up by the fact that we export agricultural products worth €5.1 billion to the UK. We are doing everything we can at that level. We are very conscious that the immediate impact relates to the decrease in the value of sterling. I have dealt with that issue already. I acknowledge the point made by Deputy Heydon about bloodstock exports, in particular. This question was raised as a specific concern when I met representatives of the bloodstock industry yesterday. Obviously, we are very anxious to maintain such exports. The Department of the Taoiseach has been doing preparatory work. As the Deputy will appreciate, the Taoiseach visited Angela Merkel earlier in the week and the Minister, Deputy Flanagan, has met his German counterpart. I will be meeting my colleagues in the Council of Ministers. We are creating and elevating an awareness of the unique position we are in because of our relationship with the UK and our trading exposure there.

Deputy O'Keeffe raised a few points about this matter as it affects the dairy side. This matter will be on the agenda at next Monday's meeting in Brussels of the Council of Agriculture Ministers, which I will be attending. We expect to receive from the Commissioner some proposals to assist the dairy industry. On previous occasions, we have successfully prosecuted the case for assistance at Commission level. My Department made payments earlier this year on foot of an announcement that was made in October 2015. That funding of €12.7 million was matched by €12.7 million in Exchequer funding. Deputy O'Keeffe will be interested to hear that these moneys went to both the dairy and pigmeat sectors. I appreciate that such approaches do not constitute an answer in themselves in light of the scale of the losses, especially this year when prices have decreased so significantly. Consideration must also be given in this context to the provision of direct aid, the bringing forward of single farm payments and the initiation of discussions with the banks. I accept the point made by Deputy O'Keeffe in the last case. I have met representatives of the three major banks - Bank of Ireland, AIB and Ulster Bank - to create awareness of the fact that a cohort within the dairy industry is significantly exposed as a result of investments that have been made. I have to say my request for forbearance in that context received a good hearing from the banks. I appreciate that a perfect storm is brewing at the back end of this year when merchant credit, tax liabilities and superlevy bills will come together. We need that kind of forbearance from the banks. We are working within the leeway we have been given by the Commission to develop other financial packages that might assist farmers, particularly in the context of the difference between the cost of a package that we might be able to put together and the cost that is being paid at present for credit, especially merchant credit and short-term loan facilities from the banks. We are working on a range of issues.

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