Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That Dáil Éireann:

notes:— the absolute necessity to support tillage farmers and the rural communities that rely on this sector;

— that the continual trend of low grain prices, increased input costs and poor margins over the last number of years has intensified the income crisis and financial hardship in this sector;

— that farming organisations have estimated that tillage farmers suffered a severe income reduction of between €70 million and €80 million over the course of 2016, with reduced production in excess of 400,000 tonnes;

— the average net margin on tillage farms in 2016 was minus €130 per hectare, as outlined at the recent Teagasc Outlook Conference;

— that severe inclement weather badly damaged and destroyed tillage crops in Autumn 2016, encompassing coastal regions and other counties;

— the refusal by the Government to provide specific ring-fenced funding to offer financial assistance to tillage farmers who have seen their land and crop destroyed by severe weather in 2016; and

— the appalling vista that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine underspent, by €86 million, its 2016 expenditure budget; recognises the example of the Aid Scheme for Potato and Vegetable Crops Damaged by Frost, which was introduced in 2010; and

calls on the Government to:— immediately establish a crisis support fund to provide direct payments to farmers who were impacted by severe crop loss in 2016;

— avail of current European Union (EU) State aid ‘de minimis’ regulations that allow the Government to make available tailored support payments for farmers of up to €15,000 per producer over a three year period;

— build alliances at EU level to seek Commission approval for temporary suspension of EU import tariffs on fertilisers to reduce input costs for tillage farmers;

— promote increased use of native grain and Irish malt in the manufacture of Irish whiskeys, artisan products and craft beers;

— implement proposals submitted by farming organisations at the National Tillage Forum; and

— open at once a Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) investment tillage scheme which the Government had promised to commence in Autumn 2016.

As alluded to by the Ceann Comhairle, I welcome the many tillage farmers from the Irish Farmers Association, IFA, who are joining us in the Visitors Gallery today and who have campaigned strongly on this issue. Earlier today they held a protest outside the Dáil to try to get their voice heard, to achieve some progress on the matter and to get a fund in place to support them in their time of need.

Our motion outlines the difficulties of tillage farmers in specific parts of the country and calls for, in particular, a crisis fund to be put in place to support them. It is unfortunate that we have to be here today because we have known about this issue for quite some time. Fianna Fáil has been campaigning on the issue since last September. Indeed, it has been campaigning on the issue since before the ploughing championships. It will have been clear to many of us who attended the championships that there was a real crisis at that stage.

When I raised the issue in the Dáil with the Minister, he indicated that he did not wish to give a commitment on a fund at that stage because he did not want to affect the ongoing salvage operation. The salvage operation concluded long ago and the time for a decision by the Minister also passed long ago. However, it is not too late and this can still be done. Our motion requests that a specific compensation fund is put in place to assist those many tillage farmers who lost crops. It is primarily farmers along the west coast from Donegal to Kerry and in some inland counties who, because of the weather conditions during the harvest season this year, were affected by wet days that ran on in a manner that meant that they could not get into their fields and that their soil was very soft. This meant that they could not harvest their crops. They now need support.

It is particularly necessary because, as the Minister will be aware, it comes on the back of three or four years of poor cereal prices. Farmers have not been making a profit and have been getting by in the hope of a better year to come. Further, this year those farmers, numbering approximately 250, have lost part of their crop. Some have lost up to 50% of their crop; others have lost more. This has placed them in a situation where they have to question seriously whether they can continue in their businesses. Over recent weeks and months they have been questioning whether they will be able to meet the bills that have been falling due. Most of them have not been able to meet those bills. It is therefore crucial that the Government recognises the situation and that the Minister comes forward with a proposal and a fund to assist them.

It is also clear that funds are available to the Minister. Last year the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine underspent to the tune of €86 million, so the excuse of not having the financial wherewithal to do it is simply not correct. There is also no excuse in terms of precedent. This has happened before. There is an example as recent as 2010, namely, the potato and horticulture assistance fund that was put in place to assist farmers affected by the weather back then. Fianna Fáil, with Deputy Brendan Smyth as Minister, put the structure in place. We came up with the funds to try to bail out those farmers in their time of need. The Minister should use that precedent and structure as an example of how to proceed and as a means of delivering for farmers now.

This issue has been discussed by all parties in recent months. It was discussed in detail at the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. We invited members of the IFA to address us and considered the issue in detail. I remind the Minister that this cross-party committee has representation from all colours and backgrounds in this House. Given that it was an all-party committee, it is important that I am clear about the recommendations of the committee. The committee noted that "there is an urgent need to support farmers...gravely affected by [the] highly unusual weather events" and that "the funds necessitated to support those affected are reasonably small within the funds allocated to the Department". It stated that "[t]he Minister should consider the introduction of a specific crop loss aid package for the tillage sector targeted at the affected farmers".

As an explanation and a defence to not doing this, the Minister has pointed out to the many farmers here today that they can apply to the loan fund which the Minister is setting up instead. Somehow the Minister feels that this fund will help them in their time of need. I remind the Minister that the terms and conditions of that loan fund provide that normal lending rules apply. That type of fund cannot help those who need support - not more credit - right now. In that regard, I point the Minister to what the committee stated on the loan fund. It acknowledged that the loan scheme "may be useful to...farmers but does not sufficiently address the issues concerning the Tillage Sector, specifically, the farmers affected by adverse weather conditions this year".

There is no reason for the Minister not to come forward and act on the back of this motion. I am hopeful that the motion will be passed by the House and ask the Minister to recognise what farmers, including those in the Visitors Gallery, have been saying over the past few months. Will he recognise their circumstances and the will of the House and the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine in calling on the Minister to put a fund in place to support these farmers?

The estimated cost is approximately €4.5 million. Three or four years ago, while in government, Fine Gael was very willing to walk along side farmers when times were good and to try to claim credit when the agriculture sector was doing well. In the past year or two, the farming sector has struggled. These farmers have certainly been struggling over the past few months. It is now that they need the support of the Government. It is now that they need the Minister to come forward with the funds.

The saying "where there is a will, there is a way" is often referred to on farms. Unfortunately, the Minister is saying, "No way". He is not showing the will to make this happen, but it is within his power. We ask him to put the funds in place to support farmers in their time of need.

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