Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I first raised this last November in the Dáil. At the time the Minister said in the Dáil that the Teagasc information to hand suggested there was no national fodder shortage in the country. What was a fodder shortage has become a fodder crisis. The Minister knows that I have raised this on numerous occasions in the Dáil.

There is an urgent need for swift action to be taken by Government to assist farmers in affected areas who have called for crisis fodder aid funding. We believe the best way to do that is through a meal voucher scheme. It gets the funding directly into the pockets of the farmer.

A Teagasc survey of impacted areas in December 2017 showed that 85% of farmers affected by fodder shortages in the north-west region had, on average, less than half of the fodder they needed for the winter period. The warning bells were ringing at that time; there is no question about that.

I come from the north west. It is the area I represent. I believe that area is the engine for producing beef cattle. That is where the suckler cows are and where the calves are produced that generate all the beef. We all welcomed the great announcement during the week of the deal that will see €100 million from China. However, I put it to the Minister that suckler cow farmers do not get support. They have been calling for a long time, through the IFA and ourselves, for a €200 suckler grant per cow to keep these people in business. Otherwise there will be no beef to export anywhere. That is the sad reality and that is where we are heading. I am not simply saying that; it is fact.

Reference was made to the geonomics scheme. As someone who was a butcher for 35 years I believe the scheme is downgrading the quality of our beef. Reference was made to greenhouse gases. Trying to put beef on and fatten Friesian calves will generate twice as much greenhouse gas because it is nearly impossible to get beef onto those calves. We should look after the good quality cows we have that produce the best beef in the world.

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