Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As the Tánaiste knows it has been a difficult year for the farming community across various sectors. The tillage sector especially has suffered much pressure this year, particularly those tillage farmers who lost crops along the western coast due to the wet weather during the harvest. I have raised this several times. Tillage farmers continue to raise the need for a crisis fund with the Government. There is spare funding available in the Department's current budget, which the Minister will use to forward pay some World Food Programme moneys for next year. The capacity is there to provide a crisis fund but, unfortunately, the political will is not. Will the Government consider a crisis fund, accede to it and put it in place before the end of the year?

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