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

To follow on from Deputy Fitzmaurice, there is a crisis and people are panicking. It was welcome that the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, was in the House because the farmers' wives are panicking and they are worried about what they are about to head into for the winter, given they feel their husbands are bottling it all up. A few weeks ago on www.thatsfarming.com, Claire and John Daly from Kilconnell in east Galway put up a fabulous video on which Claire spoke from the heart. These are farmers who have inherited farms and there is a huge burden on them to deliver and to pay the bills. They are under pressure and the wives are worrying about the long winters the farmers are facing into. The whole mental health aspect and rural isolation is coming into play in a big way. That is why I welcome the fact the Minister of State, Deputy McEntee, was present. This is what the family is worried about, and there is also a crisis in terms of family friendly farms. They are worried about the banks and the merchants but they are also worried about their health.

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