Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister's response indicates that he has been sleepwalking on this issue for the past number of months. He still has not woken up to the fact that, as Minister, he must take action and assist farmers across the country who are in trouble. It affects not just individuals, but it is on a collective scale. That requires collective action on the part of the Minister. He must recognise that there is a crisis, and it has been partly contributed to by his lack of proper intervention before now. What are the projections from Met Éireann regarding how long the poor growth period is likely to last? It is a couple of days from 1 April. If there is another week or two weeks of cold weather, it will be the start of May before there is growth. There will be desperation on many farms across the country by then. I recall the fodder crisis in the late spring of 2012 and the unbelievable pressure on farm families to try to find money when they did not have it to pay for imported fodder. The Minister must take control of this and show that he understands the problem. Frankly, up to today he has not shown that he understands the extent of this real problem.

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