Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. It is also an issue in my constituency. The Government fully recognises there was exceptional flooding in the Shannon Callows during late summer last year which prevented some farmers from completing their normal traditional harvesting of silage and hay. This has left affected farmers in a serious situation and required that they purchase fodder to maintain animal health and welfare during the winter months. It is in that context that the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, announced a new scheme, the Shannon Callows flood scheme, on 7 November last to support affected farmers in the Shannon Callows.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine announced funding of €800,000 to assist farmers who have been affected by fodder loss in the Shannon Callows special area of conservation, SAC. While it was necessary for the lands flooded to be within this SAC to be eligible, whether lands were designated as an area of natural constraint, ANC, or not has not been taken into account in the scheme.

The Shannon Callows flood scheme is operated by the direct payments section of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Given the urgent nature of the assistance required, applications issued on 17 November, with payments commencing as soon as the applications were returned by affected farmers. Many farmers were paid by the middle of December. Expressions of interest letters, which included application forms, issued on 17 November to the 230 farmers impacted, as identified by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine's earth observation team using the area monitoring data. A further 47 impacted farmers were issued with expressions of interest letters and application forms on 7 December. In returning the application and applying for the scheme, the farmer is declaring that he or she has lost fodder as a result of the exceptional flooding and that he or she has read and understands the terms and conditions of the scheme. As of 19 January, 97%, or 268 of the 277 applications, have been returned, processed and paid €736,398 on a total of 2,266 ha.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s earth observation team used the area monitoring system to identify affected farmers within the Shannon Callows SAC who had grassland parcels claimed on their 2023 basic income support for sustainability application and which were flooded on at least six of the 30 occurrences that the area monitoring system looked at between 2 July 2023 and 29 September 2023. The Department's analysis estimates that approximately 2,500 ha of grassland were impacted by flooding. Some parcels along the River Suck and the Little Brosna river are included within the figure of 2,500 ha. As stated, 2,266 ha have already been processed and paid within the Shannon Callows flood scheme. The payment rate is €325 per hectare and reflects the loss of fodder and also the loss of grazing and aftergrass.

In addition to this new Shannon Callows flood scheme, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine paid out approximately €56 million in funding to farmers across the country under the 2022 fodder scheme in response to the Ukrainian crisis. A further €30 million was paid out to farmers under the 2023 fodder scheme in an advance payments issued in December 2022. The Department thereafter paid €19.5 million in balancing payments for the 2023 fodder support scheme in December of last year. Approximately 71,000 farmers were in the 2022 fodder support scheme with approximately 67,000 of them also applying for the 2023 fodder support scheme. Both schemes supported the production of fodder on farms across the country in 2022 and 2023.

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