Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing this Topical Issue. Met Éireann figures for this year indicate fewer dry days between July and October than there have been in a number of previous years. The top ten Met Éireann stations for rainfall are all along the west coast and one of the highest was in Newport in my county of Mayo. Land is sodden and cattle have been housed long before they should really be. Fodder has been depleted and, as Deputy Aylward mentioned, its price has escalated if one can get it or have it transported to the west coast. By waiting, the Minister is denying the fact that we have a problem and he will force farmers to sell stock at a time they can least afford to do so. He will force them from having an income beyond January. We need to act now, as to do so will avert not just a farm crisis but an animal welfare crisis. That will come not in 2018 but later this year. What we need now is not an informal chat with Teagasc but a co-ordinated approach from the Department to tackle the problem in Mayo and along the west coast.

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