Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister's absence for 24 minutes has been noted and recorded. While we can all run late, to say I am disappointed is to put it mildly.

The Fianna Fáil Party has called on the Government to establish a crisis fund for farmland badly damaged by recent weather. Such a fund would be one element in the effort to address problems being experienced by tillage farmers.

As Deputy Fitzmaurice noted, this is not a local issue affecting east County Galway but a problem that extends from counties Cork and Kerry north to County Donegal. Tillage farmers have been in crisis since 2013. Silence is condolence. The farmers in question are facing their banks and suppliers because crops have not been harvested and they face a cash crisis.

As Deputy Fitzmaurice very ably explained, crops cannot be salvaged or delivered to merchants. The price paid to farmers for their crops is substantially lower than the cost of production. The position is not sustainable. Without a dramatic increase in cereal prices, the problem is unlikely to be resolved. Will the Government support Fianna Fáil's proposal to establish an emergency fund? Will it establish a national tillage forum, as called for by the farmers' organisations, made up of industry representatives, farmers and other stakeholders, with the task of finding solutions for those who are in crisis?

The Minister is best positioned to address this problem. He visited the ploughing championships last week and has spoken to representatives of the various farming organisations. The tillage sector is one of the few sectors that believes its voice has not been heard. The beef and dairy sectors have been looked after but the tillage sector cannot access the €11 million in matching funding announced recently. What hope does it have?

See this speech in context