Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I fully support the motion. It is clear that there is a crisis in the tillage sector across the country. This is evidenced by the number of farmers who have come here to listen to the debate. It is a crisis that has been building up for many years. Since 2012, over 100,000 acres have been taken out of tillage farming across the country. Last year, 2016, was the year that crystallised the entire crisis when the adverse weather conditions wiped out many farmers and their production across the country from my county of Donegal down the west coast into Cork. According to the IFA, this has led to an estimated reduction of €70 million to €80 million in income in 2016 with crop losses of up to 50% and some farmers' production being wiped out. This is a crisis on anybody's terms. The Government amendment to the motion does nothing to address that and will do nothing to help farmers address this crisis.

What is needed at a minimum is for the Government to avail of European state aid de minimisrules to allow up to €15,000 per producer to be subsidised directly to them because I do not believe that any low-cost loan facility will be of any use to farmers who simply do not have an income to be able to make repayments on the loan in the first place. What we need is an aid scheme under the existing European Union rules that facilitates and looks after those farmers. We need the Government to take further action in terms of the fertiliser industry and the tariff dumping that is taking place to ensure that input costs for farmers can be reduced so that when they do get a crop, they can make some money out of it. This is what needs to be done urgently by the Government. I urge the Government to withdraw its amendment and support the motion as the only one that can make real difference for farmers.

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