Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I share the concern of the farming community at the incessant rain we have experienced now since last July. Bar maybe a few weeks in August, it has been raining. Our food production system is being undermined as a result of that weather - there is no doubt about that - which, on another day, we should also reflect on in terms of broader debates about the changing weather patterns. As regards the immediate issue, especially in terms of horticulture and tillage, the Minister will engage with the sector as to what can be done to support it because we are aware of, as the Deputy says, the challenges with both early spring crops and summer crops last year. The weather has seriously impaired the work of our horticulture sector and it is having consequences and will have consequences, I think, for the remainder of the year.

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