Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The wet weather has continued unabated since last winter, leading to poor soil conditions and poor grass growth, and has prevented farmers from putting cattle out to grass in early April. The reality of the situation is as simple as that.

The scheme to subsidise the cost of importing fodder was welcome. It was finally an acknowledgement by the Government that there was a crisis. However, the actual cost of buying fodder has not been addressed. The majority of farmers do not have the cashflow to pay the upfront cost of additional fodder and concentrates. From speaking with farmers, this is the nub of the issue.

I am from the constituency of Waterford.

10 o’clock

I was very proud to see "Big Week on the Farm" filmed at Gillian and Neil O'Sullivan's dairy farm last week. It brought agriculture into the homes of every house in Ireland. It was fantastic. Like Deputy Chambers, I spoke to a farmer who broke down on the phone because he simply did not have the money to buy the fodder. He accepted that a lot has been done to bring fodder into the country but it may as well be still in England because he cannot afford to buy it. It has been estimated that many farmers are forking out an additional €1,000 per week to keep their animals fed. A new low-interest loan scheme has to be made available to farmers affected by the fodder crisis to pay the increased costs they face. They need it now. I call on the Minister to finalise and open the low-cost loan scheme announced over seven months ago in budget 2018. The banks involved in this loan scheme must be told not to make farmers jump through unnecessary hoops when applying for these loans.

I will hand over to my colleague, Deputy McConalogue.

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