Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I listened to what the Minister had to say. He has a lot of nice words about committees and discussions. In essence, however, what he is saying to farmers is, "Live, horse, and you will get grass". He talked about a wartime response. What he is doing is not a wartime response. There are people on committees discussing this problem who have got more, even if just a cup of tea, than farmers have got up to now to combat the crisis in fertiliser costs. Given that farmers are taking fertiliser on credit, that cost will inevitably be passed on to consumers next year. Food prices are going to rocket and we will see division between farmers who are passing on a legitimate cost - they have no alternative because the Government has not helped them - and consumers who are paying an awful lot more for food than they can afford.

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