Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government strongly supports our agricultural sector. We have had a bad summer and a difficult winter with the fodder crisis etc. Several schemes are available to support farmers, including environmental schemes. One relates to the purchase of slurry spreading equipment. There is a generous grant scheme of 60% but there is something wrong with the scheme in two respects. First, a farmer is not allowed to use leasing or hire purchase finance. He must get a personal loan. Many farmers cannot get a halfpenny because of their situations, with bad prices and bad crops combined. Moreover, the farm contractors of Ireland are not allowed to avail of this grant scheme. That is surely short-sighted because when the weather dries up, contractors are in a position to spread the slurry quickly and with expertise.

This is a major anomaly. I call on the Taoiseach to ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to deal with it. It is a ridiculous scheme. The people who draw up these schemes should be cognisant of the fact that most farm equipment is leased or secured on hire purchase and not on a personal loan basis.

See this speech in context