Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

While the national silage scheme is welcome, there is an elephant in the room in that dairy farmers have been omitted from it. They are again asking whether they will be considered for inclusion. We are heading into late May and the silage season is upon us. Dairy farmers will see their beef counterparts receiving €100 per hectare, up to a maximum of 10 ha. It is a positive intervention but there are many farmers losing out.

The multispecies sward initiative the Minister announced in March really did not have much of an impact in the west of Ireland. I do not know anyone in Clare who ploughed and put seeds into the ground. They are still dealing with the old meadow grass, which has its limitations. When I go home to Clare this evening, our cattle will be out on mountain commonage because we are trying to save what precious grass we have. We are hoping to get more meadows out this year than we typically would have done. The winters are getting longer, climate change definitely is upon us and the cost of all the variables, such as agrifuel and fertilisers, has gone up. We need to know today whether the Minister will consider bringing dairy farmers into the scheme. Its scope should be broadened and made more flexible as we head through the summer period.

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