Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Michael Creed, for coming into the Chamber to respond in person to it, as he has been at the tillage sector forum today.

It is certainly a very important issue and a matter of the utmost urgency. We need to see a move from the talking that will happen at the forum to actually seeing action and delivery for farmers. There is no doubt that there has been a growing crisis in our tillage sector in recent weeks as the weather has failed to improve and as farmers on the west coast from Kerry and Cork up to my county of Donegal have been unable to get the crops in. At this stage, a fair percentage of the crop in those counties is lost and many of those farmers are facing financial disaster in terms of their income this year and their ability to pay bills.

This is an issue for me and my fellow members on the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Cahill and Senator Paul Daly, as well as Deputies Aylward and O'Keeffe. Fianna Fáil is seeking an emergency crisis fund to support those farmers who have not been able to get their crops. I know farming organisations are also looking for it. Prices have fallen four years in a row. The price per tonne this year is expected to be approximately €130. That is below the cost of production, so everyone in the grain industry is suffering a lot of stress this year. I know Teagasc is indicating that the average income on a tillage farm this year is expected to drop by €14,000.

There is a real crisis for those farmers who have not been able to get their grain out of the ground. Many on the east coast, where rainfall levels have been below normal, have been surprised to hear that rainfall on the west coast has been up to one and half times what would normally be the case. Grounds are still exceptionally wet and saving the crop has proved to be impossible. Is it the Minister's intention to put in place a crisis fund for those farmers who have not been able to harvest their crops? Is this something he has raised with his European counterparts and is it on the agenda for the forthcoming Council of Ministers meeting next Monday where it will be important to try to get consent from his colleagues at European level to contribute to a fund? We know it was put in place for the livestock and dairy sectors when they faced income crises. It should and must be delivered to support the tillage sector, which is currently in crisis.

There is precedent for this. At the end of last year, a crisis fund was set up to support farmers who lost their fodder. If we go back to 2009, a crisis fund was put in place for the horticulture industry. There is no doubt on the part of anyone involved in the agriculture sector that the tillage sector needs this support. Since 2012, the tillage sector has lost 100,000 acres and this pressure will only continue to increase. We are not self-sufficient in grain so it is a sector that needs to be encouraged. Unless the Minister can deliver that over the coming number of days, many farmers will be facing very difficult scenarios this autumn.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy McConalogue for raising this issue and for giving me an opportunity to address the House in respect of it. I fully acknowledge and accept that ongoing difficulties are being experienced by the farming community, not least our tillage farmers. This sector is very important in the agricultural economy but it has been a challenging year in terms of both market returns and weather. I am in the middle of chairing the tillage stakeholders forum and have stepped out to take this important debate. I decided to convene the forum today because I thought it would be an apt date on which obtain a sense of the bigger picture regarding what the harvest has been like. According to the information available, matters have been difficult, particularly on the western seaboard. I have met representatives of the IFA in Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim. I know from my own experience in west Cork that it has been a particular problem along the western seaboard. In the context of convening the forum, I also felt it was important not to go in with a prescription that might not fit the ailment that was articulated. I wanted to involve all the stakeholders so it is not just in the context of the forum and it is not just the farming organisations. It takes in the gamut of people who have a vested interest in the viability and prosperity of the sector, from the State agencies and farming organisations to the feed industry, the distillers and the brewers. In the context, today is in many respects a listening exercise and I appreciate the points of view that have been articulated at that forum.

The tillage sector provides valuable raw material for the feed industry, straw for the livestock and mushroom compost industries and, importantly, material for the rapidly developing brewing and distilling industries. I am most conscious of the challenges posed by the current weather and price-related difficulties for growers and that significant changes will take place in the international trading environment in the coming months and year.

In the light of these challenges, I directed my officials to priorities the processing of all payments this year, including the basic payment scheme, BPS, the areas of natural constraint scheme, GLAS and AEOS, which are in total worth over €1.5 billion annually to the agriculture industry. In respect of the BPS and the greening payment, I am pleased to confirm that advance payment is scheduled for 17 October next, the earliest possible date by which payments can commence under the governing EU regulations. The necessary preparations are being made to maximise the number of payments on that date. In response to the difficulties being encountered on farms, this payment will be at 70%, which will significantly support farmers with cash flow problems. The second instalment of payments will commence on 1 December next. I am also pleased to note that the processing of the areas of natural constraint payment scheme is on schedule and payments have already commenced during the third week in September. It is expected that approximately 96,500 people will fulfil the scheme eligibility requirements. I am happy to confirm that, to date, in excess of 77,500 applicants have been paid a total of €167 million. Payments are continuing on a twice-weekly basis to ensure prompt payments to applicants as and when they fulfil the scheme stocking requirements.

I also confirmed at this afternoon's meeting the Government's commitment to the sector, both at farm and processing level, which is fully reflected in the Food Wise 2025 blueprint for the industry. In particular, I highlighted the opportunities to increase the focus on adding value to what is a quality product. I also indicated that the provision of low-cost flexible finance is a priority for us under the programme for Government. To this end, I have been engaged in intensive consultations with the Government Departments, the EU Commission and the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland with a view to developing a product that is better than anything in the marketplace. I hope to be in a position to make an announcement on this shortly. I am determined to ensure that any new loan product will be available to tillage farmers on similar terms and conditions as those for livestock farmers under de minimisstate-aid rules. I stressed at the meeting, and I do so again in this House, that in this changing landscape, we need to take a fresh look at our tillage industry to ensure that it is best positioned to withstand possible future threats and to avail of the new opportunities which may present themselves.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. While the measures he outlined are important in respect of ensuring that direct payments are paid promptly and with regard to delivering affordable credit to farmers in all farming sectors, it is exceptionally disappointing to see that he made no reference to the need for a crisis fund to assist those farmers who are facing ruin in certain parts of the country because they have not been able to get their crops. That is most acute problem facing us at the moment and one that needs the most urgent response.

The tillage forum is welcome. I know the Minister has come from a meeting of the forum and I appreciate the fact that he is taking time to update us. However, I was particularly hopeful that there would be more substance in terms of what the response might be because this is what grain farmers across the country, including the western seaboard, who have not been able to get their crops are seeking. While affordable credit for cashflow pressures is necessary for many in the farming industry, unless there is a recognition of what farmers - who will be ploughing this year's crop back into the ground in the coming weeks because they were not able to get it and who are facing merchant bills, contractor bills and conacre bills for those who rented the land for which they are now getting no return - are facing, many will simply not be able to manage their finances, pay their bills this year or remain in the sector.

As I pointed out earlier, we have lost 100,000 acres of tillage in the past four years. It is crucial that the Minister responds. I ask the Minister to zone in on it. Will there be a crisis fund and will he raise it at next Monday's Council of Ministers to seek the support of his EU colleagues to introduce such a fund?

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I ask the Deputy to reflect on the following point. It is difficult, and that which can be salvaged at this stage may be a small fraction. However, if I were to introduce a fund, every endeavour to salvage whatever is salvageable would cease. I want to ensure the endeavour continues. This point was made at the forum today and was reflected in contributions from all sides. Until we have a full picture, I will not jump into making any hasty announcements regarding the measures we might consider appropriate.

I have been on the ground and in the Deputy's county. I have met farm organisations, both national and local. We are anxious to get a full and accurate picture in respect of the endeavour and where a line can be drawn under it to say beyond this point no further harvest can be salvaged. We are far from that stage. Only a full picture can inform us on the appropriate policy instruments that are being considered.

The Deputy raised the EU agenda. When 27 or 28 member states jump up and down in unison about the dairy industry, the Commission responds. Unfortunately, member states are not jumping up and down about the grain industry. Until there is a clamour for a response at a political level in the Commission that is led by the main grain growing countries, there will be no prospect of a bailout package for the grain industry. This is why we are availing of the opportunity under the scope given to us under the de minimisrules, as in State aid. Neither the French, Poles, Hungarians, Romanians nor any of them are jumping up and down and saying there is a crisis in their grain industries.