Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for the opportunity to speak on this matter. There is no doubt that this has been a difficult and harrowing winter and spring until now. Every farmer in the country has experienced difficulties and nobody has been exempt from that issue. It is unfortunate that, to a certain extent, some political parties tend to play politics with this issue. Playing politics with this issue will not put one bale of hay, straw or silage into the yard of a farmer. That is an important point. Remember how this issue became bigger than what it was. There was a scarcity of fodder in the west and north west earlier in the year but it became a bigger issue in the earlier part of April when the weather turned bad and those farmers in the east, south east and south who had been supplying the west became concerned that they would not have enough fodder and stopped supplying it. Fortunately or unfortunately, there is still fodder in some parts of the country that has not been exposed at this stage. The farmers in the south became concerned that they would not have enough for themselves. I am aware of farmers who supplied other farmers in the west of Ireland in February and are now trying to source feed for themselves. That is when it became a big issue.

There is a short-term issue, a medium-term issue and a long-term issue. The short-term issue is the availability of fodder. That issue has been addressed with the importation of fodder from England and Spain. That fodder will be available for as long as it is required. The medium-term issue is the cash flow difficulties that may arise as a result of the extra cost that has been incurred by farmers over the last period. It is important that the co-operatives step up to the plate. I acknowledge the dairy co-operatives which did not reduce the milk price in the last number of days. Some co-operatives decided to introduce a subsidy for meal going forward. Going forward, they have to be able to deal in a sympathetic way with farmers. The banks have an important part to play in this too.

The long-term issue is the most important point. We have to have an honest discussion with ourselves about where we are. Do we have too many cattle in the country? We have to have a detailed review of Food Wise 2025, an industry-led initiative introduced a couple of years ago with which we will increase our exports to €19 billion, which is obviously a very ambitious target. We will have to review those targets and see if they are achievable going forward. A previous speaker mentioned sustainability going forward. It is a key issue. We have to put structures in place to ensure that mistakes from the past are addressed.

Last week, as Chairman of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, I convened a meeting at the request of a number of members to review the situation. As a result of that meeting, we decided we would put a structure in place going forward whereby we would invite stakeholders involved, whether the banks or Teagasc, which I believe has an important part to play. In the past, Teagasc became a form-filling exercise. We need to get those people out on the ground, advising, encouraging and dealing with farmers, and showing them how to put structures in place to be able to manage their farms for the future. They will know how much fodder they will require going forward for the coming year. It is a long-term plan that needs to be put in place and Teagasc has an important part to play.

There is a point in the Fianna Fáil motion about the hardship fund. The Fianna Fáil press release states that €1.5 million will address this issue. If €1.5 million will address this issue, I have huge concerns about it. Approximately 120,000 farmers applied for the single farm payment in the last year. They all looked for some money out of that €1.5 million. That is approximately €12 per farmer. Is that fair? Approximately 18,000 availed of the scheme in 2013, which would equate to €83 per farmer. Do we want to give farmers a measly amount of €83-----

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