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

I apologise to the House for my delayed arrival. The Department experienced a technical glitch and we were unaware that this matter had been selected for discussion until 15 minutes ago.

I acknowledge the case made by Deputies Michael Fitzmaurice and Anne Rabbitte. I am aware of the issue they raise, which affects counties along the western seaboard from Malin Head to Mizen Head, although it is not confined to the west. I have met leaders of farming organisations both nationally and locally. I visited County Donegal on Monday where I met farm leaders from counties Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo who conveyed to me in a practical and an effective manner the reality on the ground for tillage farmers. The sector's difficulty with the weather has been compounded by low prices, which has been a problem for several successive years. Unfortunately, these problems have also coincided with a series of bumper harvests globally. Factors such as the lifting of the export ban on Russian agricultural products have resulted in a flood of produce on the market, which is driving down prices. In that context, I and my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Andrew Doyle, are acutely aware of the difficulties associated with this issue.

As a consequence, we decided some weeks back to convene on 6 October, in conjunction with all of the stakeholders in the tillage sector, a round table in my Department to discuss all of the issues associated with this matter. Rather than I being prescriptive in advance of that stakeholders' meeting, and we have done considerable work in the Department in looking at the issues around this matter, I did not want the forum to be the Department telling the industry what to do but to be a real round table, where we could hear and listen to the concerns of the industry.

Unfortunately, these are not just immediate difficulties associated with the weather but, in many respects, they are more structural than that. There are the challenges caused by multiple years of low prices compounded by this year's weather and I accept that, for many involved in the industry, this is a tipping point. As I said, the stakeholder round table will take place on 6 October.

I also appreciate the points made in respect of the cash crisis in the sector at present. Since 6 May I have put considerable emphasis on the pillar banks and how they are engaging with the farming community, not just on the tillage side but also in the dairy and beef sectors, given the difficulties all sectors are currently facing. I have asked the CEOs of the pillar banks to engage in forbearance in respect of the financial liabilities of the industry because, in the longer term, all of these sectors have a viable future. We got a good hearing from the pillar banks. I am also conscious of the associated issue of the cost of working finance to the industry generally and the tillage sector specifically.

In the context of the €500 million rescue package that was announced by the Commission, we are currently engaged in deliberations and consultations with farm organisations as how best to distribute that aid which, as Deputy Rabbitte said, is a scheme that currently excludes the tillage sector under the terms of the deal approved by the Commission. We are examining what alternatives we might be in a position to deliver. I am very conscious of the issue. As I said, I have convened a stakeholders' forum for 6 October and I hope something positive can emerge from that.

My apologies to the House for the delay. No slight was intended to either Deputy and I am sure they will take that at face value. I did not realise Deputy Rabbitte was watching the clock so critically, but I tried to contact both Deputies and managed to convey my apologies to Deputy Fitzmaurice.

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