Dáil debates

Tuesday, 17 April 2018

Fodder Shortage: Motion [Private Members]

 

8:45 pm

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I move:

That Dáil Éireann:notes:

— the major role agriculture plays in creating employment, generating economic activity and acting as a custodian of the countryside in Ireland;

— the unique vulnerability and exposure of agriculture to fluctuations in the weather;

— the on-going hardship inflicted upon farming communities across Ireland due to the fodder crisis that has been evident in the country since last autumn, and the sacrifices farming families have made to protect their livestock;

— that the complete and utter failure of the Government to address the fodder shortages meant that there were no contingency plans in place, despite Teagasc advising to prioritise the feeding of meal/cereal based concentrates to plug the fodder gap;

— the farcical situation with the Government reaffirming on 4th April, 2018, that there was an availability of fodder in the country, while co-operatives were ordering fodder imports from the United Kingdom on the very same day;

— that due to inaction, the fodder crisis has become a national emergency, putting a huge strain on farmers' mental health and creating animal welfare issues;

— that some farmers are spending €2,500 weekly due to the fodder crisis according to the Irish Farm Accounts Co-operative, while Teagasc estimates reduced profitability for every day that cows are not grazing at between €2.20 and €3.00 per cow;

— that the Fodder Transport Scheme has failed to address the crisis, as signified by the extremely low uptake and excessive regulatory criteria put on farmers to access the scheme, which had the impact of driving up the demand and price for already scarce domestically sourced fodder;

— the belated move by the Government to open the Fodder Import Support Scheme to all co-operatives and private feed merchants; and

— that the Government chose not to include a measure in Ireland's Rural Development Programme (RDP) 2014-2020, which would compensate farmers for losses caused by adverse weather, as is currently permitted; and

calls on the Government to:

— immediately bring forward a hardship fund to help small and medium-sized farmers who have been severely impacted by the fodder crisis;

— introduce a meal voucher scheme for farmers affected;

— swiftly make available low-cost credit for farmers to help pay for the costs of sourcing fodder and concentrates, while immediately finalising and opening the low-cost loan scheme announced over 7 months ago in Budget 2018;

— ensure all balancing payments for outstanding 2017 RDP scheme payments, such as the Green, Low-Carbon, Agri-Environment Scheme and the Sheep Welfare Scheme, are paid immediately, as farmers' cash-flow problems mount;

— dedicate a budget to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Early Warning System, which supports farmers at a local level, before any welfare problems occur;

— establish a special standing committee composed of relevant stakeholders to monitor and report to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine quarterly, to keep fodder supplies under review with fail safe measures to ensure that such a crisis does not emerge again;

— temporarily halt all Cross Compliance inspections on farms, as well as Bord Bia farm audits;

— include a permanent scheme in the RDP to compensate farmers for losses caused by adverse weather; and

— show flexibility regarding the upcoming 2018 Basic Payment Scheme deadline.

I am sharing time with Deputies Jackie Cahill, Bobby Aylward, Brendan Smith, Marc MacSharry, James Browne, Michael Moynihan and Kevin O'Keeffe. Shall we wait briefly for the Minister to arrive, as long as we are not running down the clock?

Photo of Pat GallagherPat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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We will stop the clock but, since we need to finish the debate at 10 p.m., somebody may lose out at the end.

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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We will commence. I am moving this motion, along with my Fianna Fáil colleagues, and we hope for widespread support, which I am confident we will get across the House. Unfortunately, this is not the first time Fianna Fáil Deputies have come together in recent months to move a motion asking the Government to recognise a very real fodder crisis and respond appropriately to it. This matter has also been raised with the Government on numerous occasions by the farming organisations, including the IFA, ICMSA, ICSA, INHFA and Macra na Feirme. I welcome the many farmers who are present in the Visitors Gallery tonight. There is a strong delegation from the IFA along with its president, Mr. Joe Healy. The IFA, along with the other organisations, has emphasised for many months the problem that was coming down the tracks. Unfortunately, the Government has at all stages ignored the warnings and walked headlong into a crisis for which it is unacceptably unprepared.

Our motion outlines some immediate actions that are required to assist farmers who are experiencing tremendous hardship as a result of the shortage of fodder. We want a meal voucher scheme to be put in place. A hardship fund should be available for those who cannot afford to buy fodder over the coming weeks. We are also seeking a low-interest loan, to be put in place immediately, to help tide farmers over what has been an exceptionally long winter, and a long year before that. We are also seeking that there be understanding regarding the administration of farm inspections. There should be a hold put on them for the coming weeks. GLAS and sheep welfare scheme payments should be expedited and fully paid. We are seeking to ensure that a structure and standing committee will be put in place to ensure this problem does not recur. It is the second time in five years that we have experienced a fodder crisis. Unfortunately, despite there having been one in the recent past, the Government has been totally unprepared. Its response has been entirely woeful. It has left the farming community without the type of leadership it expects from a Government, including the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. We now need, although it is too late in the day, a proper response from the Government in this regard.

The initial fodder scheme that was put in place to transport fodder from the south to the north and west has been shown to be completely wrong-headed. At the time, the Minister ignored the demands for a meal voucher scheme. He had not made the contingency plans to import fodder. He had to make it up on the go. We now need the Government to respond appropriately. Over the course of the debate tonight, my colleagues and the other Deputies in the House will outline what is required in this regard. I hope that the Government will at long last understand the role it needs to play and respond in a way that shows understanding of the plight of farmers across the country.

Photo of Jackie CahillJackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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We cannot blame the Minister for the weather of 2018 or the bad autumn of 2017 but his response, and that of the Government, has been completely inadequate. We raised this issue in November and again in January and we had a Topical Issue matter two weeks ago. We told the Minister about the impending crisis coming down the tracks but the Government refused to take action.

Unfortunately, a couple of fine days will not rectify this problem. Huge losses have been, and continue to be, incurred. The production of milk in the first ten days of April is down 9% to 10%. There will be ongoing fertility problems in the dairy sector. The constituents of milk are down. The beef sector is incurring considerable extra costs. No spring crops have been sown, and tillage farmers have to decide whether it will be economical, even if the weather does pick up, to sow the crops. Knackeries are reporting significant extra casualties. There are ongoing costs. The Government has to recognise that there will be ongoing losses in addition to the bills. The battle is already on to ensure enough fodder for 2018 and 2019. In the vast majority of cases, fertiliser has not yet been spread for first-cut silage.

As Deputy McConalogue has said, advance payments are welcome and will help with cash flow but more needs to be done. A low-cost loan is essential. When the joint Oireachtas committee met last Wednesday, the Minister's response was totally inadequate. He said the banks will look after this and look after credit for farmers. The Minister needs to look after credit for farmers, and he needs to ensure those who need it most get it, at a low cost.

I suggest that the Minister remove VAT on silage-wrap plastic for 2018 and on silage harvesting because it is essential that all fodder that can be garnered in the summer of 2018 be garnered to avoid similar circumstances next autumn and winter. The Minister needs to take action now. He has failed to take adequate action up to now. Farmers need financial help. They are under huge pressure, both financially and mentally. They need to see action from the Government now.

Photo of Bobby AylwardBobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Recent weeks and months have been absolutely horrendous for farmers. They are being put to the pin of their collars as a result of the scarcity of fodder and continuing poor weather. We want to take the pressure off farmers by temporarily calling a halt to all cross-compliance inspections on farms, in addition to Bord Bia farm audits. That is important because there is enough stress, both mental and financial, on farmers without them having to worry about visits by inspectors at this important time. The approach I advocate will take some of the pressure off farmers and allow them to focus on their priority, which is looking after their animals. Additionally, it will help to reduce the mental stress experienced by many farmers.

The motion calls for the establishment of a hardship fund to help small and medium-sized farms, the introduction of a meal voucher scheme for farmers affected, and the making available of low-cost credit for farmers swiftly to help pay for the cost of sourcing fodder and concentrates. Our motion also calls on the Government to immediately make outstanding 2017 balancing payments for the GLAS and sheep welfare scheme to ease the cash flow difficulties farmers are facing. The low-cost loan scheme for farmers announced last October also needs to be opened. The delay on GLAS payments rumbles on year after year. These delays are not exclusive to GLAS and are persistent in TAMS and other schemes.

I cannot begin to explain to the Minister the frustration among farmers over the consistent delays in direct payments year after year. It is also frustrating for public representatives like ourselves. I have written to the Oireachtas liaison unit twice and have tabled two parliamentary questions on behalf of a farmer from Castlebanny, Mullinavat, in my area. All I get back is a standard general response, with no specific information on the timeframe for payments. This has been going on since November 2017.

We need to do something rapidly. We need to help out the farmers.

Farmers helped out the country on numerous occasions in the recession and during the bad weather lately. Now it is up to the Minister. He has failed them miserably so far. We brought this to his attention over the past few months but he took no action. Only a fortnight ago, he realised there was a problem. We are asking him to do something about it and it is now up to him.

8:55 pm

Photo of Brendan SmithBrendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I agree wholeheartedly with the different proposals put forward by my colleagues. We discussed the fodder shortage as one of the last items of business on Holy Thursday evening and we all hoped at that stage that at least the weather would improve. Travelling through my own constituency of Cavan-Monaghan last night, there was torrential rain, once again putting back the possibility of growth and being able to let cattle out. Fianna Fáil and all the farm organisations have outlined specific measures that need to be implemented without further delay. The IFA in its statement this evening, as well as Lorcan McCabe of the ICMSA and the ICSA, have all put forward reasonable proposals that should be acted on and implemented, and they are outlined in our motion.

I understand substantial quantities of fodder are coming in from Northern Ireland. The transport subsidy is not available for the transport of that fodder and I understand substantial offers of fodder are still available north of the Border. It is wrong that co-operatives sourcing product outside our jurisdiction are not entitled to the subsidy for transporting it to where it is needed. I have been told about this by people working in the co-operatives and they are well-informed members of the farming community. I ask the Minister to address that issue.

There are huge pressures on the farming community. These measures, which would have negligible expenditure consequences, are essential and I appeal to the Minister to consider them. Some of us flagged the difficulties that emerged this winter due to cattle having to be housed so early last July and August. Many farmers in my own part of the country were unable to make a second cut and there was an obvious fodder shortage.

Photo of Marc MacSharryMarc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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In November 2017, the Minister said, "All our data suggest there is not a national fodder crisis"; on 27 March 2018, he said, "It is the individual's responsibility to have enough fodder"; on 4 April, he said, "There is an availability of fodder in the country"; and on 5 April, the next day, he said, "If you have a problem, put up your hand". Since before the House resumed following the summer recess, Deputy McConalogue has been putting up his hand. He indicated that was a problem and there was an inevitability to the crisis we are now in but, unfortunately, the Minister was like somebody using a satnav. He just listened to the voices in the Department but he forgot to look at the signposts for road works and he ended up in the ditch.

There are farmers starving themselves now to keep their herds fed. We do not need the usual departmental approach of making something simple impossible, bureaucratic, unworkable and prohibitive but we need officials to do simple things simply. A meal voucher should be made available not just through the co-operative movement but through all independent providers and suppliers of meal to give farmers the supports they need. Payments should be front-loaded to those who need them and cognisance should be taken of the fact that many smallholdings even in good weather are on the bread line without a fodder crisis. They are in an emergency and we need somebody who is hands on, proactive and prepared to listen to those on the ground. We need action and we have been saying this since last September. This issue has been highlighted frequently. On 11 October 2017, I recall participating in a debate on Ocean FM with one of the Minister's party members who said I was crazy and there was no such thing as a fodder crisis. He said it was a myth and there was no issue. However, we are now in an emergency because the Minister did not listen. It is time to act.

Photo of James BrowneJames Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy McConalogue for the opportunity to contribute to the debate. The difficult weather conditions have caused havoc throughout the country and, in particular, in my own county of Wexford. Recent high volumes of rainfall, widespread flooding and a lack of grass growth due to the cold temperatures have compounded existing fodder shortages. Livestock have had to be kept indoors for much longer than usual, feed is gone, growth is non-existent and hope is at a premium. Every farmer is physically and mentally exhausted and many have gone beyond breaking point. The situation is intolerable. The Minister played Russian roulette with the hope that the weather would pick up. He was well warned about the crisis and he failed to prepare and act, which was reckless. Will he show leadership and immediately establish a hardship fund to help farmers? Will he introduce a meal voucher scheme for those affected? Will he swiftly make available low-cost credit for farmers? Will he ensure that all balancing payments outstanding from 2017 are paid as soon as possible?

Photo of Michael MoynihanMichael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate. As we can see based on those who have contributed so far, the crisis is widespread. I am disappointed that the press is not present to cover this national issue, which affects every community. If we take every funding line in the Department's budget, there are farmers waiting for money. Other farmers have won appeals and reviews over the past eight to ten weeks but no money has been released yet. I appeal to the Minister to go through his budget line by line and if money can be released to farmers in any way, shape or form, that should happen. Farmers are short of money now as well.

I spoke to an elderly man last night who said that a wet summer or a wet fall is always followed by a bad spring and he named every year that has happened since the 1940s. Departmental staff should track that annually. It is almost five years to the day since we had our most recent debate on a fodder crisis.

The mental health of farmers is also an issue. Collectively, as a House, we have to acknowledge this. Farmers are grappling with decisions they have made over the past five years, particularly since quotas were abolished. They increased the size of their herds and their borrowing capacity and so forth. They are in a stressful place as are their spouses and children. We need to acknowledge that there is a crisis and we need to encourage them to come forward and talk about it.

When the previous Minister, Deputy Coveney, opened the new Dairygold plant, he referred to the bright future and the glorious opportunities that were available. It was pouring out of the heavens yesterday evening and one farmer said to me that there are glorious opportunities now. We need a sustainable agriculture industry going forward. It is a vital industry, which is keeping many rural communities alive. We need to make sure expansion is sustainable and that we are not back in the House in five months or five years talking about problems.

There is a fodder crisis, which needs to be addressed. Whatever funding is available within the Department should be released post haste.

Photo of Pat GallagherPat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I call Deputy Ned O'Keeffe.

Photo of Kevin O'KeeffeKevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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Kevin will do fine.

Photo of Willie PenroseWillie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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Just as good.

Photo of Pat GallagherPat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I am sorry; I was turning back the clock.

Photo of Seán SherlockSeán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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I empathise with the Deputy.

Photo of Kevin O'KeeffeKevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Sherlock.

I support my colleagues' acknowledgement of the fodder crisis. Last night would have put a mental strain on any farmer. In my own backyard, there was an initial booking of 50 pens of cattle in Fermoy mart for today's trade. Only half the lots turned up, and although they sold at a reasonable price, those farmers were not in a position to bring them home again if they had not sold because they had no fodder for them. That is why those lots turned up.

At our last meeting I highlighted another crisis. More needs to be done regarding port facilities. Lorries are being sent in large numbers but importers are not in a position to bring in enough concentrates such as corn gluten and that is creating a fierce shortage of meal on the ground. More needs to be done to help our ports to speed up this process. Three or four months ago, the Minister said he did not need to act because there was no crisis but if he had acted, money would not have to be wasted.

Some farmers may have had the foresight to carry stock, silage and hay in their barns for the last three or four years and are now using it up. It is of as good a quality as what they saved last year. I am trying to tell the Minister that the money would not have gone to waste if he had brought in the stuff a couple of months ago, or especially going forward, with concerns about climate change. I ask the Minister to take action. Some action is necessary. I welcome his initiatives regarding greening for the tillage sector. I am delighted to see he reacted instantaneously there because the tillage sector is vital to the country's economy. As Deputy Creed said, he put money into capital investment in the dairy sector. We need to have the working capital in place as well.

9:05 pm

Photo of Andrew DoyleAndrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I move amendment No. 2:

To delete all words after “That Dáil Eireann” and substitute the following:

“notes:

— the major role agriculture plays in creating employment, generating economic activity and acting as a custodian of the countryside in Ireland;

— the competitive advantage Ireland has in sustainable livestock production, particularly dairy, beef and sheep farming, based on a grass-based production system, which is both relatively low cost and carbon efficient;

— the shared Food Wise 2025 strategy for the development of the sector, which highlights the opportunities to grow the value of farm output, value added and agrifood exports, growth that must be managed in an environmentally sustainable manner;

— the unique vulnerability and exposure of agriculture to fluctuations in the weather;

— the on-going hardship due to fluctuations in the weather and the sacrifices farming families have made to protect their livestock;

— the role the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Teagasc, co-operatives, farming organisations and farmers have played in working through this challenging period;

— the securing of an increased advance payment in October 2017, under Pillar I and Pillar II of the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP);

— the payment of €1.6 billion in CAP direct payments to Irish farmers, before the end of 2017, providing an important source of income support for farm families;

— that for the first time in winter/spring of 2017/2018, under the new Sheep Welfare Scheme, advance payments totalling €16 million issued to sheep farmers, with a further €3 million to issue in the coming weeks, providing valuable support to the sheep sector;

— the securing of an additional €25 million in Budget 2018, for payments under the Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) Scheme, where the highest level of support is targeted at those who are faced with the highest level of constraint on their land, bringing the total amount allocated to the 2018 ANC Scheme to €227 million;

— the prioritisation by Teagasc of the provision of direct support to these farmers through fodder budgeting and nutritional advice, not only then, but throughout the winter and spring;

— the convening of a stakeholder group chaired by Teagasc, comprising of all the main stakeholders including feed merchants and co-operatives, banking and farm bodies, to monitor the fodder situation; and

— the timely introduction of a targeted Fodder Transport Scheme, to address the shortage of supplies of fodder in the North and North West, in January of this year; and

further notes:

— that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine is in regular contact with all of the stakeholders following the introduction of this scheme;

— the timely introduction of a Fodder Import Support Scheme to cover all co-operatives and importers approved by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, to import fodder;

— the extension of the deadline for the submission of Nitrates Derogation Applications, until 30th April, 2018;

— the extension of grazing under the Traditional Hay Meadows (THM) measure in the Green, Low-Carbon, Agri-Environment Scheme, until 1st May, 2018;

— the securing of a commitment towards flexibility in the ‘three-crop rule’ under Greening requirements in Pillar I of the CAP;

— the availability of rapid emergency feed assistance to any farmer facing immediate feed shortage, through the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine animal welfare helpline that supports the Farm Animal Welfare Advisory Council's Early Warning/Intervention System (EWS);

— the need to ensure that farmers are adequately equipped with the necessary knowledge and advice to deal with fluctuations in the weather and to keep fodder supplies under review;

— the one-to-one assistance being provided to farmers by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, to lodge their Basic Payment Scheme applications;

— the continuous monitoring of the situation by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and Teagasc; and

— the increased regularity of severe weather events and the need to consider the inclusion of appropriate risk management tools, to mitigate against the impacts of such events on farming enterprises in the next iteration of the CAP.”

I am sharing time with Deputies Creed and Fitzpatrick.

Photo of Michael CreedMichael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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No.

Photo of Andrew DoyleAndrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Sorry, Deputies Deering and Fitzpatrick.

Photo of Pat DeeringPat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Burke.

Photo of Andrew DoyleAndrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Sorry.

Photo of Brendan SmithBrendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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We should have name tags in future.

(Interruptions).

Photo of Andrew DoyleAndrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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This past year has seen exceptional bad weather which has brought unwelcome hardship to farming families. Both the Minister, Deputy Creed, and I have worked through our Department and with Teagasc, co-operatives, farming organisations and farmers themselves to find ways to help the farming community deal with this very challenging time. In response to the problems experienced in the west and north west in late autumn and winter, the Minister, Deputy Creed, and I took the following steps to ensure the availability of fodder. Teagasc was asked to prioritise direct support to farmers by providing fodder budgeting and nutritional advice throughout the winter. The payment of farm supports to assist farmers with cash flow was prioritised and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has paid out over €1.6 billion to Irish farmers under Pillar I and Pillar II and will continue to make residual payments. The Minister, Deputy Creed, convened a fodder group chaired by Teagasc and consisting of all the key stakeholders to ensure a co-ordinated approach to the issue. A targeted fodder transport support measure, with an allocation of €500,000 was introduced by the Department on 29 January, providing assistance to livestock farmers in the west and north west. Throughout this challenging time, the Department's animal welfare helpline has been continuously available to offer assistance to any farmer experiencing animal welfare issues.

The continuation of unseasonably cold weather throughout March delayed the onset of spring, inhibited grass growth and resulted in livestock having to be housed for longer than usual. As a result, the fodder problem became more widespread and extended to the more heavily stocked regions in the south and east. In response, Department officials arranged meetings with Teagasc and industry representatives to identify what further action might be taken. The decision was taken at ministerial level to extend the fodder transport measure to all counties and to introduce a fodder import support measure with an allocation of €1.5 million to ensure that sufficient fodder was available to all farmers. This measure, which is being operated through the co-operatives and other approved importers, is supporting the importation of approximately 20,000 tonnes of fodder into the country and will be kept under review until the current crisis is over.

In addition, the Road Safety Authority of Ireland has agreed to greater flexibility for road hauliers engaged in the transport of fodder and feed. The green low-carbon agri-environment, GLAS, traditional hay meadow grazing date has been extended to 1 May 2018. The closing date for nitrates derogation applications has been extended to 30 April. Balancing payments under certain Pillar II schemes, including the sheep welfare scheme, will issue in the coming weeks, followed by GLAS in mid-May. The animal welfare helpline continues to be available to farmers in need. The Minister, Deputy Creed, recently met with the CEOs of the main banks.

In what has been an evolving challenge, firstly due to an early winter period in the west and north west but more recently as a result of delayed turn-out of livestock to grazing lands across the country, we have responded in a targeted and appropriate way ensuring access to fodder for all farmers in need. Notwithstanding this, Teagasc is being asked to prioritise fodder conservation for future winters in its farm advisory campaigns to ensure there are adequate stocks for next winter. I am confident that the actions outlined above will ensure that farmers will be able to successfully plan more effectively for winters such as the one we have just witnessed.

Photo of Pat DeeringPat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for the opportunity to speak on this matter. There is no doubt that this has been a difficult and harrowing winter and spring until now. Every farmer in the country has experienced difficulties and nobody has been exempt from that issue. It is unfortunate that, to a certain extent, some political parties tend to play politics with this issue. Playing politics with this issue will not put one bale of hay, straw or silage into the yard of a farmer. That is an important point. Remember how this issue became bigger than what it was. There was a scarcity of fodder in the west and north west earlier in the year but it became a bigger issue in the earlier part of April when the weather turned bad and those farmers in the east, south east and south who had been supplying the west became concerned that they would not have enough fodder and stopped supplying it. Fortunately or unfortunately, there is still fodder in some parts of the country that has not been exposed at this stage. The farmers in the south became concerned that they would not have enough for themselves. I am aware of farmers who supplied other farmers in the west of Ireland in February and are now trying to source feed for themselves. That is when it became a big issue.

There is a short-term issue, a medium-term issue and a long-term issue. The short-term issue is the availability of fodder. That issue has been addressed with the importation of fodder from England and Spain. That fodder will be available for as long as it is required. The medium-term issue is the cash flow difficulties that may arise as a result of the extra cost that has been incurred by farmers over the last period. It is important that the co-operatives step up to the plate. I acknowledge the dairy co-operatives which did not reduce the milk price in the last number of days. Some co-operatives decided to introduce a subsidy for meal going forward. Going forward, they have to be able to deal in a sympathetic way with farmers. The banks have an important part to play in this too.

The long-term issue is the most important point. We have to have an honest discussion with ourselves about where we are. Do we have too many cattle in the country? We have to have a detailed review of Food Wise 2025, an industry-led initiative introduced a couple of years ago with which we will increase our exports to €19 billion, which is obviously a very ambitious target. We will have to review those targets and see if they are achievable going forward. A previous speaker mentioned sustainability going forward. It is a key issue. We have to put structures in place to ensure that mistakes from the past are addressed.

Last week, as Chairman of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, I convened a meeting at the request of a number of members to review the situation. As a result of that meeting, we decided we would put a structure in place going forward whereby we would invite stakeholders involved, whether the banks or Teagasc, which I believe has an important part to play. In the past, Teagasc became a form-filling exercise. We need to get those people out on the ground, advising, encouraging and dealing with farmers, and showing them how to put structures in place to be able to manage their farms for the future. They will know how much fodder they will require going forward for the coming year. It is a long-term plan that needs to be put in place and Teagasc has an important part to play.

There is a point in the Fianna Fáil motion about the hardship fund. The Fianna Fáil press release states that €1.5 million will address this issue. If €1.5 million will address this issue, I have huge concerns about it. Approximately 120,000 farmers applied for the single farm payment in the last year. They all looked for some money out of that €1.5 million. That is approximately €12 per farmer. Is that fair? Approximately 18,000 availed of the scheme in 2013, which would equate to €83 per farmer. Do we want to give farmers a measly amount of €83-----

Photo of Eugene MurphyEugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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We want to give them nothing, apparently.

Photo of Pat DeeringPat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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-----or put in place a structure that will deal with this for the future?

Photo of Peter BurkePeter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I want to make clear, as someone who was brought up on a family farm, that I know first-hand the difficulties and anxieties that farmers face when fodder is in short supply.

It is also very important that we make it clear that farmers who are in difficulty should step forward. However, the motion is very bland. Its lack of detail is absolutely amazing. The second line of the motion states that Dáil Éireann------

9:15 pm

Photo of Michael Healy-RaeMichael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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What is wrong with it?

Photo of Peter BurkePeter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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-----notes the unique vulnerability and exposure of agriculture-------

(Interruptions).

Photo of Anne RabbitteAnne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy is supposed to be speaking to the amendment.

Photo of Pat GallagherPat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Burke without interruption.

Photo of Peter BurkePeter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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------to fluctuations in the weather. If one looks at the detail-----

Photo of Michael Healy-RaeMichael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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That is not an accurate statement.

Photo of Peter BurkePeter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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-----there has been 80% more rainfall in some parts of the country over the first three months of the year, while soil temperatures must be above 6 degrees for adequate growth. However, the motion firmly places the blame on the Government and contains nothing about sustainable solutions. It has not one word about agritaxation. There is no detail in terms of the supports that were brought in in budget 2017 to give farmers a chance in a difficult year to opt in.

(Interruptions).

Photo of Eugene MurphyEugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Farmers are in distress right now. This is not about-----

Photo of Peter BurkePeter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Critically, it asks for hardship funds for small and medium-sized farms but offers no detail of the criteria or costings for such funds. It is devoid of any detail. We need real, sustainable solutions.

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Where was Deputy Burke all winter?

Photo of Peter BurkePeter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Minister stepped in with a-------

Photo of Eugene MurphyEugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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This is unbelievable. How dare Deputy Burke say that?

Photo of John BrassilJohn Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy should continue to do nothing; it will be all right.

Photo of Peter BurkePeter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I cannot get a chance to articulate my point.

(Interruptions).

Photo of Eugene MurphyEugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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This is a fodder crisis.

Photo of Pat GallagherPat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Deputies may not interrupt a Member who is speaking.

Photo of Peter BurkePeter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I am putting on the record the lack of detail in the motion and I would like to have the chance to fairly articulate that point.

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy should have focussed on the lack of detail in the Government response to the crisis.

Photo of Peter BurkePeter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Very clearly in terms of the action the Minister has-------

Photo of Pat GallagherPat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Burke's time has elapsed.

Photo of Peter BurkePeter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I did not get to articulate my point. I just wish to make two more points.

Photo of Pat GallagherPat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I have allowed the Deputy an extra 30 seconds.

Photo of Peter BurkePeter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I will make two more points. The Minister has shown that he is prepared to change when change is needed and that was clearly demonstrated by the fodder transport scheme. He was not afraid to do that. As regards the money being put behind this problem, fodder is coming into the country and work is being done. Low-cost credit schemes are available and the Minister is working hard on the issue.

Photo of Eugene MurphyEugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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My God. Deputy Burke and his colleagues are not living in the real world.

Photo of Peter BurkePeter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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When we are putting forward solutions and discussing them in the House they must be credible, fair and sustainable.

Photo of Pat GallagherPat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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We now move on to Deputy Martin Kenny. His party has a total of 15 minutes.

Photo of Martin KennyMartin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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I will be sharing time with my two colleagues. We will be supporting the motion put forward by Fianna Fáil in regard to the fodder crisis. The crisis has been going on for a very long time. In October of last year, I first raised with the Minister that a fodder crisis was looming in the north west. The Minister had at that time a very bland attitude to the matter and insisted that there was no crisis, there was plenty of fodder in the country and, although some farmers may be short, they could get fodder from their neighbours. That was true in some cases. However, 12 months before that, as I am sure the Minister will remember, I raised with him the possibility of a crisis in the winter of 2016-17 when I could see that farmers in the north west were very short of fodder. The farmers were lucky that year that there was a middling spring and they got through it. The essence of this is that farmers depend on the weather, as we know. I earlier joked with the Minister in the canteen that it was not his fault that the grass did not grow. However, the crisis is the fault of the Minister and the Government as they did not make provision for the possibility of its occurring. That is the issue which we raise here.

The Minister last week said at a meeting of the joint committee that it would not have been appropriate to import fodder a couple of months ago. No one asked for fodder to be imported a couple of months ago. Teagasc officials were going around the country to address farmers. I was at a meeting with the IFA in Drumshanbo in County Leitrim last November at which a representative of Teagasc advised farmers to feed more concentrates in order to spread out and stretch out what silage they had. That was the consistent message it gave. Approximately two months later, just after Christmas, Teagasc told us that farmers were approaching a crisis and had no money to buy more concentrates and that something would have to happen very quickly.

There should have been some connection between the advice that Teagasc was giving and the action the Minister was taking but there was not. Rather than taking the advice of Teagasc and stepping in to assist with the provision of concentrates, the Minister, against expert advice, provided a scheme to move fodder from other parts of the country. That is an important point. At all stages, the Minister told and showed me that donedeal.iewas the answer; that there was plenty of fodder for sale on that site. We all know that one may decide to purchase something on donedeal.ieand make the phone call to arrange to buy it. When one goes to look at the item, what one is supposed to get and what is actually there are two different things. Often, it is not there when one goes to collect it. That was a very strange way of dealing with this crisis.

Another point continuously raised was that any farmer who was in a serious crisis such that he or she could not feed his or her animals, should contact the Department and the Department would step in. I know of farmers who reached that crisis point and went to the Department. The Department told the farmers it would feed the cattle for a couple of weeks until it got a test and then it would sell them. It was telling the farmers that their crisis would be ended very quickly. The Department was not going to help farmers through the crisis into the future but, rather, would ship the cattle off to the mart. That was not a solution.

The issue of where we go with this was earlier mentioned by Deputy Deering in terms of Food Wise 2025 and the intensification of farming. Much of the crisis relates to that intensification and the reality that, particularly in the south and east of the country where there is better land, more and more people are going into dairy and there is more and more stock. We are running into a problem which is putting pressure on the entire system. We must reconsider that approach. Food Wise 2025 must be examined because we must accept that sometimes we need to consider changing the model that we use in different places. That must happen reasonably quickly.

I concur with and support much of the motion. However, Sinn Féin has tabled an amendment which aims to solve this issue into the future. Last autumn, I and other Members stated that the crisis was due to saturated land, because of which farmers could not get a second cut of silage. Farmers in parts of the country, such as the south, who were used to getting a third cut, were definitely going to miss out on that. In my part of the country, most farmers could not get a second cut of silage. Those who did, got it in October and it was useless in terms of quality because the land was so wet. The land is so wet in many parts of the country because there has been no effort through the years to provide any assistance to farmers for a land drainage or reclamation programme. It has been many years since any action was taken in that regard. There is now an opportunity to do something about that. That would help to ensure that the land is a bit drier to get out slurry and fertiliser and get the grass to grow a little earlier in the spring. We have tabled our amendment, which I hope will be supported by Fianna Fáil and all others in the House, in order to have a scheme put in place which will help farmers to drain land when needed.

The poor return farmers get for their produce is one of the problems at the heart of this crisis. When a crisis comes, the farmer is short not alone of fodder, but also money. Suckler and sheep farmers in the north west find it very difficult to make ends meet even without a crisis such as this. Someone once told me that the definition of poverty is not that one is in the Horn of Africa and does not have enough to eat but that one cannot cope with a crisis when it comes. That is the case for many farmers in this situation. That must be recognised and there must be an understanding that there must be an emphasis on ensuring that farmers can get a fair price for their produce, which is not currently the case.

One point raised in the motion concerns the payment of the various schemes. The GLAS scheme is due to be paid in the middle of May. However, in the context of the current crisis there is no reason the 15% payment due to farmers, which amounts to approximately €500 or €600 for most, cannot be sped up, paid immediately and farmers sent a cheque this week. Somebody in the Department will say that would breach an EU regulation. The time has come to breach such regulations and look for forgiveness later rather than permission now. It is time to send that money out to farmers so that they can have a chance to relieve the situation.

This problem developed because of the weather. However, there was no foresight on the part of the Minister or the senior people in the Department in terms of doing something about it. The advice from the farm organisations, Teagasc and the people on the ground was that the situation was dire and action needed to be taken. However, no action was taken. To talk about importing fodder when the dairy co-ops had already started to do so was too little, too late. It was a mark of the Government's failure on this issue. It should own up to that situation and admit it cocked up but state that it will put provisions in place to ensure the same will not happen again, and that it will do something now by sending the GLAS money to farmers and putting in place a scheme for the provision of a meal voucher not just this year, but every year. There must be a contingency plan for this situation and an overview of where Food Wise 2025 is going and where it will leave us.

We must stand back from the situation, recognise there is overstocking in some cases and re-examine where it is going. I will hand over to my colleagues.

9:25 pm

Photo of Martin FerrisMartin Ferris (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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I support the motion on the fodder crisis and the Sinn Féin amendment. We are trying to come up with constructive ways to address the crisis. We have been through all of this before in 2013. Those who were Members of the House then will well remember the crisis that evolved at that time and the lack of preparation by the Government, the Department and associated agencies. One would assume we would have learnt something from that experience but, unfortunately, what has evolved over the past four or five months has shown we have learnt nothing. The Government has learnt absolutely nothing. It was told well in advance what would happen. At the end of October and the beginning of November 2017, I sat in this Chamber next to Deputy Martin Kenny as he raised the issue of an imminent fodder crisis, in particular in the north west, and how it would affect the small, weak family farm.

Who gives a God damn about the small family farm? The Government certainly does not but we do. I come from a small family farm and am proud of it. It is part of my roots. My party and I represent the small family farms, the backbone of this country, who have been blackguarded and neglected by the policies of successive Governments that did not give a God damn about whether they survived. It suits them that they are gone off the face of the earth. That is what is happening now as well. Who has been hit hardest? It is not the big farmers as they have adequate fodder, it is the small and medium-sized family farm. They are the ones that have been hit and that have been hurt most. I would not mind but we knew about it. We were told about it in this House and we argued about it. The Minister relied on his report from Teagasc. We came back to the issue in January and it was the same situation.

People who were able to put their cattle out last week have now put them back in again because of the weather in recent days. Again, the areas that have been hit hardest include the west and the north west and the small family farms have been hit hardest. What can we learn from it here today? As true as day follows night, no first cut of silage will happen until mid to late June, which means farmers will be down a cut of silage. They are already down a cut of silage from last year because cattle were in from October. Heavy cattle have experienced problems with their hooves and there have been problems getting feed for them. Small farmers had to sell off their cattle at a loss because they did not have the feed to sustain them.

The Minister can gloss it up any way he likes but the God damn policy of the Government towards the weak, small and medium-sized family farm is non-existent. There is no policy whatsoever to help them. The Minister can say he allocated €1.5 million towards import transportation costs but what has that done for farmers? They are paying between €40 and €50 for a bale of silage if they can afford it. Farmers are borrowing money in order to buy feed. They have been blackguarded and neglected by successive Governments. I hope the weather will help the farmers in some way because they are wasting their time if they are depending on the Government to help them.

Photo of Brian StanleyBrian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion. We have a national crisis that was flagged way back. We had a very bad autumn which resulted in a very bad harvest and the signs were there that the situation would be difficult unless there was an early spring, which did not come and still has not come. The west and the north west were mentioned but today, 17 April, cattle are still in sheds in counties Laois and Offaly that in normal times would have been out a month to six weeks ago. The cost and availability of feed is causing problems for farmers.

I support the amendment to the motion, which calls for a land drainage scheme. Deputy Martin Kenny has spoken about County Leitrim and other counties in that area but in the midlands, accessibility issues also arise due to the torrential rain we have had and there is waterlogged land that could be alleviated were a drainage scheme put in place. Reference has been made to fast-forwarding the outstanding 15% of the GLAS payment. That is a positive suggestion the Minister might take on board.

We all want to see a vibrant and strong agriculture sector, as set out in Food Wise 2025 and Food Harvest 2020. We on this side of the House support that. As a Deputy in a rural constituency I support it but we need to have a reality check. A lot of farmers in my area depend on three cuts of silage, which did not happen last year. Farmers are increasing stocking rates and they have been encouraged to borrow money to increase their herds. Some herds, in particular in the dairy sector, have doubled and quadrupled. The problem is that when something like this happens, the pressure mounts on the system. It is fine if everything is going well and there are three cuts of silage or two very good cuts, which did not happen last year, but the system breaks down when a situation like this happens. Last year there was a late harvest and a bad autumn and now there is a late spring so it is a double whammy. Stocking levels must be examined.

We are facing the importation of very costly feed. One must ask whether we should be growing more fodder beet. Should Teagasc, the farming organisations and the Department be encouraging farmers to grow more fodder beet? It is a good crop and one that will grow in a fairly wet climate, which we have seen in recent years. We must also examine other ways to generate income in the longer term. The Minister must consider the sugar beet industry again. It will not alleviate the crisis now - only money will solve that and short-term measures such as those outlined here tonight - but in the longer term we need to look at diversification. The sugar beet industry was wiped off the face of the earth in this country. It had benefitted small and medium farmers in the midlands in particular, in that the beet factory provided a cheque in the month of January or February that kept people afloat until the spring. It also took the pressure off land and helped to improve the soil. The industry was wiped away by a previous Government. I urge the Minister to look at the issue in the longer term but he must introduce measures immediately to address the situation as farmers are under serious pressure at the moment. This is a national crisis.

Photo of Willie PenroseWillie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak in this important debate pertaining to the fodder crisis in the Dáil this evening. I do so on behalf of the Labour Party. My party leader, Deputy Howlin, is present, as well as Deputy Sherlock.

We broadly support the motion but with some caveats. We are fully cognisant of and familiar with the crucial role agriculture plays throughout the economy in terms of employment, quality food production, food processing, exports and the significant role played by farmers in protecting our greatest natural resource, namely, the land, flora and fauna, wildlife and the environment across the country. It is in that context that the fodder crisis came as a huge dampener and has had a severe and significant impact both in terms of animal husbandry and welfare and on the health and welfare of individual farmers and families. This has arisen from the huge strain generated as farmers watch their barns and silage pits empty to the back walls, without a bale of stray straw or a forkful of silage available, which is not just important in terms of keeping the animals from regressing but are vital ingredients in the digestive process of ruminants.

It is against that background that in early April I called, on behalf of my party, for the Government to provide a subsidy for farmers struggling as a result of the current fodder crisis to enable them to purchase alternative feedstuffs or import fodder or roughage for their livestock. At the agriculture committee last week, I publicly supported the introduction of a meal subsidy voucher, as my Labour Party colleagues and I considered this to be the most practical, focused and targeted way of rendering immediate assistance to identified farmers in significant difficulty. It also was the simplest system to administer. It need not be widespread and could be devoted to many small farmers who have been hardest hit across the country in specific geographical locations. There are affected pockets right across the country but significant numbers arise in the western corridor, the north west and latterly in the south east. I spoke to Deputy Howlin's people in Wexford last Friday on the programme.

If one has 30 suckler cows or 30 to 40 dairy cows a measurable, definitive amount of meal of between 4 kg to 5 kg a day, which would supplement and deal with a deficiency of fodder, over a 30-day period is 150 kg per animal and the cost is clearly identified and measured for 30 to 40 animals. It would not constitute a runaway train.

I also believe that the transport subsidy should not be circumscribed by bureaucratic rules and regulations and the subsidy should be available to enable fodder to be sourced from wherever it is procured and delivered to the target farmers who require it. As I said at the committee also, I do not subscribe or participate in debate pertaining to the lack of fodder in a political way. It is not the hour or time for political grandstanding or sound bites. It is naive in the extreme to start apportioning political blame. All stakeholders must respond.

The Minister and the Government are clearly important but Teagasc, co-operatives, agricultural merchants, financial institutions, major processors and farmers themselves also have a significant role to play. The farmer is the farm manager. My brother is in farming. One has to be down on the farm to understand. I would not live with him. He is down there every day and is up at 4 a.m. to help with calving. These are the people we are talking about.

Let us stop pontificating for the sake of garnering public notice. That will not create one extra bag of meal or another bale of straw, silage or hay for hard pressed farmers. It behoves each of us, as representatives of the people, to adopt constructive policies and to make suggestions to address the significant situation that now prevails across the country. The problem has clearly been accentuated by the unseasonably cold snap in March and a number of significant adverse weather events, including snow, frost, flooding and hurricanes. All of our citizens have suffered to varying degrees but agriculture took the biggest hit. The combination of a number of factors has led to the development of a perfect storm. We have low soil temperatures, which means that no grass growth can take place. We have also had depressed air temperatures. Land is waterlogged or flooded to such an extent that neither man nor beast can get out on it. There was a reduction in fodder harvesting last autumn. Third cuts of silage and hay which were regular features were not achieved in 2017 and in some parts of the country a second cut was not even achieved.

A further factor which is not related to weather conditions, and about which people do not like to speak, is the abolition of milk quotas. I spoke about it at the time and sent out a warning at the agriculture committee, but nobody wanted to listen. This has resulted in a significant increase in cow numbers. There has been a 300,000 increase since 2015 which necessitates a significant increase in forage and concentrates. Some of the increase in cow numbers arose when long-term tillage farmers took advantage of the quota abolition to get out of what was and continues to be a loss-making operation, particularly grain production. Those farmers have made the transition to fully fledged dairy farmers through significant capital investment. As a result, we must now factor into the equation the important loss of that tillage land which produced grain, rapeseed, beet and, most importantly, straw. The loss of that land has resulted in significant losses in terms of feed inputs for animals, the effects of which are now being felt.

Let us have a real and honest debate about this and about how we arrived at this position. The situation in which we find ourselves can be resolved in the short term but if we do not put in place appropriate plans and preparations, we are at nothing. Let us be clear - this situation is going to continue in the winters of 2019, 2020, 2021 and beyond and must be addressed from a long-term perspective. Farmers in the south east are expecting to have their cattle out on grass in early to mid-February while those in the midlands expect to have their cattle out by St. Patrick's Day. Stocking rates are an issue as is sustainability across the sectors. This must be considered or the ostrich syndrome will win out and we will have learned nothing.

We had a similar situation four or five years ago, in 2013. I recently looked at the study carried out by Dr. Stephen Flood who outlined the significant future impacts of climate change on Irish agriculture. I believe that study was launched by the former Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney. In planning for a sustainable agriculture industry going forward, we will have to ensure that climate projections are factored into any long-term plans. We cannot continue to thatch the roof on the day of the storm. The inevitable conclusion is that winters of seven rather than five and a half months long should be budgeted for henceforth. It is hard to achieve that new target when silage pits remain the same size and the land area available for forage decreases. Significant changes in our climate magnify the risk that we will have winters that are significantly wetter, with significant increases in rainfall. This will have to be taken into account in the context of fodder saving practices and the frequency of such saving. Fodder budgeting must be accurate from now on and participation in the Teagasc PastureBase Ireland programme can assist in this regard. This must be promulgated and advanced. We know that a mature cow or bullock eats approximately one tonne of silage per month so instead of five tonnes being the normal requirement, current projections indicate that up to seven tonnes per animal would be more appropriate. We now have more than 7.3 million beef and dairy cattle in the country.

We need effective early warning systems to be put in place by Teagasc so that feed reserves and grass on farms are assessed as part of the farm management system in order to prevent the recurrence of this problem, especially on its current scale. While we clearly have a significant comparative advantage derived from producing milk and beef on a grass-based system, which is the most efficient way of doing so, we must caution against overdoing it or trying to maximise the achievement of efficiencies of production from grass at the expense of adequate forage conservation for indoor feeding over the winter period. The two are not compatible. The impact of not being able to access grazing means the loss of up to €250 per day in terms of profitability. Every week that this continues will have a severe impact on the bottom line. Animal fertility can also be affected and there is a clear risk of increased mortality in this situation.

The advancement of a low-cost credit scheme for farmers would be of enormous help, as would immediate payment to the 4,000 farmers who are still awaiting their GLAS payments and the remaining outstanding 50% due to the other qualifying farmers. A targeted meal voucher subsidy scheme would also help. We need to cool the ardour of the farm inspection regime and, in particular, the Bord Bia farm audits. It would not be a national catastrophe if they were deferred for two months or so. The Minister has made representations to the European Commission which is fully aware of the significant difficulties we have experienced as an island nation in the Atlantic. The Commission should be willing to give us assistance in achieving our objectives.

We in the Labour Party would not object to a permanent hardship fund for farmers, provided it incorporated or made available funding for other sectors of our economy which have also suffered as a result of the adverse weather conditions. As the Labour Party spokesperson on agriculture and fisheries but also on community and rural affairs, it behoves me to advocate for many small shops, businesses and enterprises who also make valuable contributions in terms of economic activity, entrepreneurship, innovation and employment in our economy, particularly the rural economy. Nobody shouts on their behalf if they experience a difficulty arising from climatic events but they have also suffered. This evening, I am going to change that on behalf of the Labour Party. If there is a permanent hardship fund for farmers to cover what we hope will be occasional or rare events, the same must be provided to other sectors. Not doing so would constitute invidious discrimination and would be a kick in the teeth for those hard working people who populate towns and villages across this country. I want to see them included in any hardship scheme because that is the policy of the Labour Party.

9:35 pm

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank Deputy Penrose. Now for a Dublin perspective, I call Deputy Bríd Smith.

Photo of Bríd SmithBríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I have a global perspective.

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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A global perspective - my apologies, Deputy Smith.

Photo of Bríd SmithBríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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None of that small, rural perspective for me - I am all over the world tonight.

I will start by talking about the radio programme that is broadcast early on a Saturday morning that looks at country life and talks to farmers, which I like. Recently, the programme makers went all over Ireland talking to farmers about the fodder crisis and the honesty of the farmers involved was quite impressive. Many of them were saying that they were being stretched beyond their capacity. The message I got from the ordinary families who were interviewed was that family farmers are struggling with what sounded like horrific day to day realities. They spoke about pulling dead animals off their farms. Farmers and their wives were literally crying because their animals were dying in front of them from starvation. I remember one woman describing the howls of hungry animals. That must be a terribly painful experience to go through, no matter how callous one might be. I do not believe that the farmers of this country, particularly those with small and medium-sized farms, are in any way callous. They spoke honestly about the fact that there is a problem in this country and that farmers are being consistently driven beyond their capability not just by the Department, the Government and policy from this House, but also by their own representative organisations and media such as the Farmers Journaltelling them that now is the time to grow their herds and so forth.As we have heard tonight from people who are more familiar with rural Ireland than me, the small and medium-sized farmer does not gain. Larry Goodman, who we bailed out in the past and who has just won most of the big contract with China this week, will do very nicely, but the small and medium-sized farmer is struggling to meet the capacity targets to which they are being stretched and there is a real problem with that.

In June 2017, there were 7.3 million cattle here, an increase of 10% in cattle over two years of age, 3% in cattle under two years of age and 2.5% in dairy cows. By anybody's estimation in a country of this size, that is over-production in the middle of climate change and this is where my global point comes in. I am a member, along with Deputy Stanley and others, of the Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment. On the one hand, we agonise in a big way about climate change and how we are going to reduce our emissions while on the other, the policy of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is to get everybody to breed more cattle, export more cattle and do major deals with other countries. The Ceann Comhairle will remember when Ibrahim Halawa was still in prison in Egypt that I complained bitterly that this Government seemed to be able to do cattle export deals on an enormous scale with Egypt and Saudi Arabia but did not seem to be able to deal with the continued incarceration of one of its own citizens in Egypt.

9 o’clock

When the Minister announced this week that additional markets are to be opened up, he said "the world is literally our oyster in terms of" cattle exports. He suggested that this could be the tip of the iceberg. He has been quoted all over the media. We all woke up on Monday morning to hear that the Minister, Deputy Creed, has made the great discovery that we can push beef on people in the most populated country in the world who have never eaten beef before. Equally, it seems that we can push beef on people in the Middle East who usually live off sheep and goats. We have not begun to think globally about what crazy levels of food production, as a result of recent changes, are doing to the health of the population of the planet and, most importantly, to climate change.

I would like to quote from a document I found on the Internet in which the president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, ICMSA, had some interesting things to say:

Knackeries are flat out collecting dead animals, which shows just how bad things are. If the Minister is in any doubt, he should talk to the people who are at the coalface... it is equally the case that even where there is fodder, the long winter and atrocious weather is also leading to increased levels of animal disease such as pneumonia.

He added that it is time to stop the relentless focus at all costs on increased production and higher stocking rates, suggesting that "we are witnessing those consequences now and, with two crises in the last five years, the trend is bound to continue". He referred to the "glorification" of rapid dairy expansion and said:

As soon as you get bad weather the wheels come off. There is a knock-on impact on all other farmers as the big operators then have to panic buy large quantities of feed at any cost... There can be no doubt this crisis is having an animal welfare impact and farmers no longer want to hear about a transport subsidy that hasn't worked, they need subsidies to buy feed now.

It is obvious that the Minister sat on this crisis for long enough. He responded to it late. This is why he is getting such a huge reaction to it.

I will finish on the question of climate change. In October 2013, after the last big fodder crisis, a researcher, Dr. Stephen Flood, warned that the severe future impacts of climate change on Irish agriculture would see a repeat of this type of crisis. When climate-fuelled extreme weather conditions, from hurricanes to major flooding episodes and unseasonal cold snaps, batter Ireland with monotonous regularity, they hit the agriculture sector hardest. The de factoposition of Ireland's major farming group appears to be one of outright denial of the dangerous reality of climate change. When Fianna Fáil Deputies introduced this motion earlier this evening, they started by saying "we cannot blame the Minister [or the Government] for the weather". I disagree. While we cannot blame the Minister directly for the weather on a daily basis, we can blame the Minister and the Government for keeping their eyes and ears shut to the reality of climate change while pushing our policies in an opposite direction.

9:45 pm

Photo of Danny Healy-RaeDanny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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The man above is in charge of the weather and no one else.

Photo of Bríd SmithBríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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We need to wake up and smell the coffee. We need to start dealing with the reality in this country, which is that we are hurtling towards severe climate change on a global level. The Minister should talk to his EU friends about this issue. The EU Commissioner, Phil Hogan, has admitted on many occasions that far too many emissions from growing cattle are coming from Ireland.

Photo of Kevin O'KeeffeKevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy knows all about grass.

Photo of Bríd SmithBríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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When Mr. Hogan was a Minister in this country, he tried to push water charges on us. Now he is out in Europe and doing his damnedest to make sure Larry Goodman gets loads of agricultural exports.

Photo of Andrew DoyleAndrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I do not know how the Deputy has reached that conclusion.

Photo of Bríd SmithBríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Mr. Hogan recently warned of unsustainable levels of milk production and suggested that Ireland is sleepwalking towards massive EU emission fines. When he speaks about emission fines, he means that we are producing too many cows. Cows produce carbon emissions. They fart a lot and the methane destroys the atmosphere. We need to take note of that. We must start thinking globally about what sort of food and agriculture policies are needed to amend this situation not just to deal with climate change, but also to deal with the daily reality faced by small and medium-sized farmers in this country, as described by the ICMSA. The people we need to assist tonight are not the big guys who are being looked after by the Minister and his Government colleagues, but the small farmers who are being crucified by the fodder crisis, climate change and the reality of having to deal with policies that do not serve them well.

Photo of Thomas PringleThomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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I would like to share time with Deputy Fitzmaurice.

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

Photo of Thomas PringleThomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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It has been very interesting to listen to the contributions that have been made to this evening's debate by Deputies from all parties. I think everybody in the north west and along the west coast recognises that the fodder crisis has been around for a while. The Government has been responding to it. The Government's response to the motion before the House seemed to suggest that the response to the fodder crisis in the north west made the fodder crisis in the rest of the country worse. That does not make any sense, given that the Government was surely in a position to start trialling the problem and seeing what was actually happening. It should have been in a position to deal with and learn from the problems in the north west. It is clear that the Government has not learned what needs to be done. That is the big problem we face at the moment.

There are immediate solutions that need to be put in place. All the farming organisations, including the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association and the Irish Farmers Association, have pointed out that a meal voucher scheme and a transport subsidy scheme are needed immediately. A delay in farm inspections needs to happen straightaway so that farmers can concentrate on this crisis and deal with it. If there is a problem with delaying farm inspections, the Minister needs to tell us about it clearly so that we know where the actual problem lies. If it lies within the EU, we can direct our voices towards Europe to get some leeway or credit from there that will allow delays to be provided for.

It is clear from the contributions to this debate that there is a bigger problem. I was a member of Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine when it debated the removal of milk quotas. Everyone spoke about it as if it was fantastic and great. Having extra milk quotas and extra cattle was supposed to be the best thing that could ever happen. The very day the milk quotas were removed, everyone adopted a mood of doom and gloom. They said it was a disaster because there were far too many cattle. It was the exact opposite. It was amazing. As I do not come from a farming background and I do not have a hand or a foot in the farming business, I am not fully sure what is involved. I am a member of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine and I see what is happening. I listened to what was said when milk quotas were abolished. It was amazing. It was just like the turn of a hat.

There are problems across the board in agriculture in this country. The fodder crisis which is being experienced across the country seems to have been caused by having too many cattle that need to be fed. It is great that a number of Deputies have recognised that climate change is having an impact on us now. It is vitally important for the future that we look at what we can do to address climate change. It is only by dealing with it that we can put long-term measures in place to ensure this crisis does not recur every single year. As a previous speaker said, our climate will continue to change. We are going to have longer periods in which cattle need to be housed and farmers are going to have to cope with that. There will be teething problems as we get used to that in the time ahead. We have to do that now. The conversation needs to start right away if we are to make sure everyone is ready for it and can benefit into the future.

Photo of Michael FitzmauriceMichael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I commend Fianna Fáil on the motion. I heard a previous speaker saying that everyone supports small and medium-sized enterprises. Anyone who understands rural Ireland knows the reality is that members of the farming community keep many such enterprises alive in small towns by buying bags of meal and going into hardware shops. If we do not make sure we look after small farmers and family farms, we will be in trouble.

The serious problem that exists at present has quite rightly been pointed out. We know that bales are coming in at the moment, but that will not solve everything. The fodder shortage is accompanied by a worsening money shortage. We need to acknowledge that as a result of the pressure that is on farmers around the country at the moment, there are serious mental health problems within the farming community.

We need solutions. When the snow came to the east of the country a few months ago, everyone was told to put on their heating in the knowledge that an extra week's fuel allowance would rightly be paid. A few weeks ago, the Minister of State, Deputy Doyle, announced extra money for the forestry sector. Even though one in seven people works in the agriculture sector, which exports produce worth €1.1 billion each month, we seem to have glue in our shoes. We are stuck to the ground. This is a time when we need to show leadership and hope.

I can tell the Minister that I spoke to a farmer on my way here this morning who has 20 cows, with seven of them going to the factory in the morning. That farmer's bull is to be sold, and when we see such signs, it means we will be down in numbers down the road. We need to give these people hope.

There is a fear out there among farmers around inspections. Whatever the European Union or anybody else says, the Minister should make a decision to suspend inspections now until at least 1 June. It would take that bit of fear from farmers. I acknowledge the GLAS section of the Department, as I knew two farmers desperate for their payments, and the section helped immensely. Helping two farmers is no good and we must help whatever is out there in all the different sectors, especially in the sheep sector. One run was done in sheep welfare in December and we are hearing it will be May before the next one is done. That should go out to farmers. Whatever grants are held up, we need to ensure the job gets done.

We need to realise that the time we will see enough grass is three weeks away. Places are getting green but grass must grow. Cattle are still in sheds and farmers must either buy meal or, if the farmer lets out animals, fertiliser must be bought. Money is tight. The Minister could press a button for 120,000 or 130,000 farmers and give them even €1,000 each. We voted on a budget here and there is money in the kitty for agriculture, whether it is spent now or later. I am not saying the Minister should fork this out and never get it back. He should bring it forward so as to get farmers over the current hump. For a few days things were looking up a bit but last night put the tin hat on it again for another week. Cattle, sheep and whatever else must stay in. These farmers are struggling, day in and day out. Down the road there will also be a problem with the tillage sector as there has been damn all ploughing done. It will knock on at the other end. If the crops are not sown early, the farmer must rely on good weather again in September. We must ensure that sector will be covered as well.

We are all hearing of the money that will be in the budget next October. I have heard people saying we should tell farmers to cut back, and there is no point in saying some people will not have to cut back. We are relying on an economy where one in seven people works in the agriculture sector, either directly or indirectly. Do we want to see a situation where the family farm, which is rapidly disappearing, will be eliminated? Will the Government get its dream that the west of Ireland will be planted because it is more marginal land? Will we face the fact that the family farm that keeps the local small and medium enterprises going deserves to be supported? We need €25 million to bring it to what it was before. We have heard about pay restoration but €50 million has been cut from the sector. In fairness to the Minister, he followed the programme for Government and brought back the first €25 million. There is another €25 million to be brought back.

The suckler cow industry is disappearing by the day. I said this at Christmas but the Department denied it. The facts show the number of calves born. If we want to build an economy and keep that side of it going, we must provide the hope that farmers want now. They will go out and do the work but they need a few pounds in the kitty. They need a vision of where they are going, hope and leadership. They need the Minister to announce the €200 grant for the suckler cow. Otherwise, we will end up with all the calves from the south in the dairy herds coming up and there will be a drop in numbers. I ask the Minister to seriously consider what I ask of him.

9:55 pm

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy Michael Healy-Rae is sharing with four other colleagues. He will have to be very smart about it.

Photo of Michael Healy-RaeMichael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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We will be. I welcome the group here today from the Irish Farmers Association, with Mr. Pat O'Driscoll heading up the Kerry IFA delegation from Valentia. I thank them for making their presence known tonight because this is such an important subject.

I will not stand here and blame the Minister for the weather but he has been slow to react. It is a fact and I am sorry to have to say that to a neighbour from across the border. There are actions he must take. For example, there are people waiting for GLAS payments and it is a disgrace that they have not been paid. The Minister knows this. I compliment the people in his Department who have done much for me and the people I represent. I acknowledge that. Farmers are being treated unfairly and there is real hardship out there. The Minister has a chance to help. I was glad to hear a colleague speak the truth about the suckler herd, as not many people have done so tonight. That herd is under threat and there is a need for drastic assistance because it is not currently financially sensible to keep a cow for a year and get a calf from her. It does not pay. Unless the Minister and his Department wake up to that we will see the suckler herd under threat. The Minister knows that like everything, it is like a cog in a machine. We need the suckler men to be there for the future of farming in this country. I ask the Minister to please help as his help and that of the Department is needed.

Photo of Michael CollinsMichael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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It was evident from last September and October that we would have a fodder crisis of some sort as silage being cut at the time was of poor quality, if one was lucky enough to be able to cut it. Any politician worth his or her salt would have known at Christmas that a crisis of major proportions was on the way. I watched trailers of silage going through west Cork several times daily. I made it my business at the time to speak with farmers, both milkers and suckler farmers, and they all told me the same story that they were in serious trouble. My colleagues and I raised the matter on the floor of the Dáil but we were told there was no crisis. The Minister was sound asleep at the wheel, and this has cost farmers, their families and Irish agriculture dearly.

I wrote to the Minister on 11 January about the crisis we experienced at that time. I outlined four actions that needed to be taken and if only some had been completed at the time, we would not be in such a deep crisis as we are now. First, I asked that a fodder transport subsidy be put in place to assist the movement of fodder for affected farmers. Second, I asked that livestock meal vouchers be made available immediately. Third, I asked for an aid package for farmers to help purchase fodder at the time to help them deal with the crisis. Fourth, I asked the Minister and the Department to co-ordinate with the Health Service Executive on a support system for farmers who might have been experiencing psychological stress because of their financial position.

My calls, which came from farmers on the ground from all over the political spectrum, were ignored. After weeks of pressure, a transport subsidy was put forward but not in west or north Cork, where cattle were dying on farms. I urge the Minister to introduce a meal voucher scheme and backdate it for farmers who have receipts back to January. I ask him to see if a farm payment can be brought forward to help farmers in the midst of crisis. I also welcome Mr. Cornie Buckley and the several members of the IFA in the Gallery. They have been to the forefront in trying to resolve this crisis.

Photo of Danny Healy-RaeDanny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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I welcome the members of the IFA, especially our Kerry members. They would not be here except that farmers are in trouble. We all knew it, along with the Minister, last November. In early November many farmers had used half their feed. It is no good telling us we could not know what would happen when half their feed had been used at that time. We all knew what was going to happen. We must stop going backwards.

I thank Deputy McConalogue for bringing forward this very important motion, which contains very laudable elements. I will not get around in a minute and a half to all of them. I ask the Minister to provide a subsidy for farmers in order to provide meal. I ask the Minister to pay farmers all the grants they are owed. Many of these are not being paid at all and farmers are being fined for different things. They are struggling and their minds are gone. I ask the Minister to pay farmers in real trouble in advance so as to ensure they can continue in farming. This is a crisis and their backs are to the wall. The Minister and the Government must do something about this. The Minister gave back €106 million to the Exchequer in 2016 and over €70 million last year. The Minister should not give back a penny this year and give it instead to the farmers out there in Kerry and west Cork. There is only a distance of 20 miles between us. The Minister knows those farmers are in trouble and he should do something about it. I am asking the Minister again about this. He should not forget those farmers as he is the Minister now.

Photo of Michael HartyMichael Harty (Clare, Independent)
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I will make a few points in the two minutes I have. The Minister should be proactive and behave in an anticipatory fashion in future. He should set up a national farm emergency group that would include the Minister, Teagasc, Met Éireann and the major farming organisations and co-operatives in order to anticipate problems such as this as they come down the line.

It is too late for this year but for next year and the year after, it is very important. Climate change is here to stay. Long wet winters are going to be the norm rather than the exception. We have to anticipate that there will be fodder crises. We may even have to change farming practices and look at stocking numbers and the way in which we feed cattle in the future. It is important that we act in an anticipatory fashion. From a parochial point of view, Shannon Airport is making its grasslands available for cutting. This could yield between 1,500 and 2,000 bales. The transport subsidy that is available should be allowed to be claimed through the co-ops; individual farmers should not be claiming it. There should not be an upfront payment from farmers.

Shannon Airport is a community-based airport and it should be recognised for what it is about to do for the farming community. The farmers should not be required to pay upfront for the transport of the fodder. It is also important that low-interest loans, or the facility for such loans, should be made available to farmers in the context of feeding their animals. There should be a hardship fund which should be adequate and easily accessible to farmers.

From a medical point of view, farmers are under huge mental stress - not only the families but the farmers themselves. This has to be recognised because farming is a cross-sectoral industry.

10:05 pm

Photo of Mattie McGrathMattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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I, too, welcome the debate and thank I Deputy McConalogue for tabling the motion. I welcome our friends in the Public Gallery who would love to be at home tonight - if it was a fine night - ploughing and sowing and planting seeds. That is what they are good at. When farmers are doing well, Ireland is doing well. Never mind Deputy Bríd Smith talking about cows breaking wind or whatever. I hear a lot of hot air from her, Deputy Boyd Barrett and their colleagues on many issues. If they could not get a carton of milk in the morning, they would be rioting. They do not care about rural Ireland. They are very parochial up here. I care about rural Ireland and so do other people in this House. However, those to whom I refer do not care.

What happened to the Minister? Where is his moral compass gone? Fine Gael has always been known as the party of the farmers. I might put in a caveat and say that it is the party that cares about the big farmers and to the hell with the small fellows. Now, however, the Minister does not seem to care about anything. I have nothing personal against him but he was asleep at the wheel to allow €106 million to be returned to the Exchequer in 2016 and €86 million to be returned last year when people were clamouring for action. Anyone who could see beyond the end of his nose last year could see, on 20 July, that animals were brought in and the second cut of silage was not harvested. In some places, even the first cut was not brought in.

The Minister of State - not the Minister - came to the House earlier to answer questions. The Taoiseach was asked questions. He knows nothing about farming and cares less. That is obvious. He passed the matter on to the Minister of State, Deputy Doyle, who said it was not true that we could have anticipated this last year. Everyone knew what was happening. The place was flooded, the crops could not be harvested and some people were overstocked. A child in kindergarten would have known what was going to happen. However, the Government did not want to know and it sent back the money. Those in government cannot see the wood for the trees. The Government has many officials standing in its way, both here and in Europe. It is honouring and bowing to all of them and saying "To hell with the farmers". Deputy Harty said it - many farmers are under serious psychological stress. Farmers want to pay their suppliers. However, the banks and the contractors cannot be paid and there will be a knock-on effect if the Minister does not wake up and do something very soon. The Government's approach to this matter has been lethargic and inept in the extreme.

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I call on Deputy Eamon Ryan to follow that.

(Interruptions).

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I follow that by saying that those of us in urban Ireland do care-----

Photo of Mattie McGrathMattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Rubbish.

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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-----about rural Ireland. I agree fully with the Deputy that when farmers are doing well, this country does well. We have to protect our farming community. We support the motion from Fianna Fáil. That comes from personal reflection. At Christmas, I visited a sheep farmer in County Donegal. He is a hardworking, capable individual and he was just broken as he split open another bag of feed and realised the cost involved. He could not bring his animals up because the weather was so bad. It had rained for six months solid in County Donegal. Even earlier this month, at Easter, a farmer in the west - he is a good man - said that he was trying his best but that he could not put his cattle out because he knew they would destroy the field. He was running out of options. It is that personal tragedy that is real.

We have to address this matter. The question is how we should do so. What do we do differently? What do we change? Given that this is the second time in five years we are importing grass and fodder from the UK to feed our animals, it is time to think about what is happening and what do we need to do differently. Our first premise should be that we want to protect Irish family farms. It is important for this country that we have a family farming structure. I think that is viable and we can do it. We can design a system that gives rise to the creation of family farms. That would have huge knock-on consequences, not just for rural Ireland but also for the nature of the food system. I refer to how we protect biodiversity, how we manage our water systems and how we store carbon. Deputy Bríd Smith is right - we have to think globally. We cannot just continue on and think that everything is always going to stay the same. Things change. The world is changing and Irish farming has to change with it in order to ensure its future, its success and its viability in every sense. Those farmers to whom I refer are paying out to everyone at present. They are paying out to the agrochemical companies and they are paying bank managers' salaries. The farmers in question are paying at every turn but they are not getting paid. The current system is not serving Irish family farms. They are not properly paid and, as a result, the system needs to change.

This fodder crisis is a signal of that. What do we do? What would we suggest? I am of the view Irish farming is going to go green. I think that is the future.

Photo of Mattie McGrathMattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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It is brown at the moment.

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I have heard it-----

(Interruptions).

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I will tell the Kerry Deputies why I think is the way to go. Much of our money comes from the European Union. Many of the cheques that farmers receive originate from measures relating to the CAP. I listen to the European Commissioner, Mr. Phil Hogan, when he comes back here and says that. He would not, from a Green perspective, be my favourite persons but he came back and gave a clear message at the Food Wise 2025 conference. He said that people should wake up, that farming is changing and that climate change must be taken seriously. I think we should grab that as an opportunity for Deputy Michael Healy-Rae's constituents.

Photo of Michael Healy-RaeMichael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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The Commissioner is a good judge, he gave us Irish Water.

(Interruptions).

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Please, Deputy.

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I will start with water if the Deputy wants. I think we should be paying for-----

Photo of Mattie McGrathMattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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He is magaidh faoi.

(Interruptions).

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy Eamon Ryan should not be distracted.

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I am not distracted at all.

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Forget about water, other than that falling on the ground.

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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No, I would happily answer on the issue of water. We should be paying farmers in respect of four things and we should start with water management. Earlier today, we published a river management study that shows we are going wrong. We will not acknowledge our flooding problem simply by draining every river or by concentrating on drainage in general. Really clever management of the land will be required in order that water will be stored rather than allowed to run off straight into streams. We should be paying farmers for that. We should also pay for them to restore the pristine water quality that the river study published earlier today indicates is what we are losing. We need to manage and farm really cleverly so that we do not pollute our land and our water. We should not make the same mistake as New Zealand, where a mad expansion in dairy and beef farming led to water quality being destroyed. New Zealand is now reversing its engines dramatically. We should learn from its mistake.

Photo of Mattie McGrathMattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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On a point of order.

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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There is no point of order.

Photo of Mattie McGrathMattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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Farmers-----

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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There is no point of order.

Photo of Mattie McGrathMattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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-----are being scapegoated. On a point of order, the farmer is the best man to look after water programmes.

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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There is no point of order on this matter. Deputy Mattie McGrath should resume his seat.

(Interruptions).

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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That is exactly what I am saying. Farmers should get paid for managing our water systems.

Photo of Mattie McGrathMattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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The Deputy is blaming the farmers.

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Farmers should also get paid----

Photo of Mattie McGrathMattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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They have a top-class system.

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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-----for restoring biodiversity to our land. We are having an ecological crisis. We are losing our birds, insect life and mammals. That has to stop. Farmers should be at the forefront and are the perfect people to be there in terms of looking after our natural system. They should be paid for that. We should also pay them for storing carbon. The great advantage with storing carbon, whether we do it in forests or in bogs, is that we should put include stipulation, as the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association has said, that the money relating to carbon stored in a tree in Kerry should stay in that county. It should not come to Dublin or anywhere else. This would be a way of using the money to which I refer to develop rural Ireland.

(Interruptions).

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy Eamon Ryan is antagonising-----

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I am not antagonising at all.

10:15 pm

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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You are antagonising the Rural Independent Group, Deputy Ryan.

Photo of Michael Healy-RaeMichael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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Deputy Ryan is talking about storing carbon but he will not support cutting turf.

Photo of Danny Healy-RaeDanny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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That is what he is saying.

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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No, Deputies, please.

Photo of Danny Healy-RaeDanny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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That is what he is saying.

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy Ryan, ignore the Rural Independent Group and focus on the subject matter before us please.

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I am love-bombing the Rural Independent Group.

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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They do not seem to realise that you are.

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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They have to come around. I hope I can bring them around to the thought that I hear from different people, including people in Fianna Fáil, the Labour Party, the socialist parties and Sinn Féin. There is an understanding. We hear it in the House and I have heard it on the radio as well. I have heard farmers saying they are over-stocking, that it is not working and that they have to change. I hear it, so let us go with it. I am including the Rural Independent Group.

When it comes to forestry we should consider the idea of a wild Atlantic rain forest. I was reading Pádraic Fogarty on this topic. Climate change is uncertain and it is unclear what exactly will happen, but the best scientists reckon that we are going to have wetter winters in the north and west and possibly drier summers in the south and east. That could be difficult to manage. Our forestry needs to change. We should more towards native forestry plantations and continuous rather than clear felling cover. That approach gives high-value timber. It would create 30,000 jobs in rural Ireland and it makes for brilliant storage of carbon, which we can then use in our building industry as a further store. This is viable and this is the way the world is going. This is what CAP can pay farmers for.

We should pay farmers for our high-quality food. I was so disappointed by what I heard on "Morning Ireland". One week after we had a big debate on the fodder crisis people were celebrating that we can now sell cheap meat cuts off to China. It seems we are back on the expansion path again. They say Larry Goodman is going to lead us forward into the great future for Irish agriculture. It may be great for Larry Goodman but, in my mind, not for Irish farming. Unfortunately, the Minister is shaking his head, but the problem is that Fine Gael is wedded to big production output increases. The policy worked in 2011 and 2012 when we were in the middle of the recession. Farming helped to lift us out of it. There were two or three good years with great growth and so on. Production increases were possible. The reality since then is that our soil and land can only carry so much production. What we should do is really specialise in specialising. We should stop importing so much fresh produce and start selling our good quality produce to local markets. We should stop the export of 70,000 live calves, which is the total so far this year.

Photo of Danny Healy-RaeDanny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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That is a brilliant idea.

Photo of Eamon RyanEamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Let us look at higher value products rather than trying to compete with others. Yesterday on "Morning Ireland" I heard someone say it was great that we will be competing with Brazil. Those in Brazil will have their own problems because climate change is a global issue and everyone is going to have to grapple with how to change with the natural world. For those of us on this green island, taking a green farming future is the way to go.

Photo of Danny Healy-RaeDanny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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It is not so green now.

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy Aindrias Moynihan is sharing time with Deputy Butler, Deputy Scanlon, Deputy Murphy O'Mahony and Deputy Smyth.

Photo of Aindrias MoynihanAindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Farmers throughout the country are under tremendous pressure to feed livestock especially after the long winter and the way the fodder crisis is dragging on.

I wish to focus on two areas I believe the Minister needs to act on. The first relates to getting funds to farmers. The second relates to farmers' mental health and stress. Farmers need to have access to their money. The Minister should pay the outstanding 2017 payments as quickly as possible. Where there are appeals, reviews or any outstanding payments, the money needs to be released. The money is available. It is farmers' money and it is better off in their pockets. They need it now.

The Minister needs to look at the possibility of advancing next year's payments. The sheep welfare scheme is based around animal welfare. What could be more fundamental to animal welfare than feeding them? The Minister needs to find a way of pushing that money towards them.

If a farmer is owed money from Revenue for VAT, then Revenue needs to get that money to them as quickly as possible. It is a fundamental step. Farmers need to get access to funds as quickly as possible in order that they can buy any available feed and, as weather improves, get fertiliser out. They are already stretched on credit. We know beef and sheep farmers are not going to have a regular income. This crisis is not going to end when the weather improves.

While the fodder shortage is visible, another huge darkness is lurking behind so many farmyard gates. Farm families are under tremendous pressure with hungry cattle, empty silage pits, full slurry tanks, bills mounting and the endless stress of trying to get money and trying to get animals fed. There is no need for the Minister to add to that pressure. The Minster can take some of the pressure off by recognising the pressure farmers are under and easing off on the inspections. There is no need to be hounding farmers at this stage. Instead, where the Minister can do so, he should push money towards them.

Photo of Eugene MurphyEugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Butler for changing slots with me. We should all remember why we are here. We are here because Deputy McConalogue has us here. We had a motion in the House on Holy Thursday, when the House was virtually empty apart from the Minister, the Minister of State and ourselves. There was little interest in this. However, Deputy McConalogue persisted and brought the matter back before the House this evening. I am delighted the motion is before the House.

This evening is not about climate change or forestry. It is about action now for farmers who are struggling throughout the country. We should forget some of the nonsense that has been spoken this evening. We need to focus on what we need to do. Several speakers have said what we need to do. We need to get the GLAS payments that are overdue paid. We need to ease off on the inspections. We need to ensure that the subsidy for transport is revisited. We need to get that done straight away.

The Minister has said he has been speaking to the banks, or at least those remarks were in his press release. That needs to be done as well. Where necessary, we also need to get the short-term loans at a percentage that will be acceptable to the farming community. Let us deal with what we need to deal with this evening. We will have long days to talk about climate change and forestry, but let us try to get help to those farmers who are in the Gallery this evening as well as the farmers I represent. Let us get farmers off the hook now. We should give them a little support.

By the way, I spoke to one farmer yesterday. He asked me to tell everyone to stop saying that farmers are suffering from mental health issues at the moment. He said they are not but that they are deeply stressed and concerned and that their families are concerned as well. He reckons if farmers get a little help they will be able to get over this crisis. There may be issues here or there of over-stocking but that is not the major problem.

I want everyone, including the Minister and the Minister of State, to dwell on the issue now. I am referring to the emergency that must be dealt with in the coming days. If we get over that, then I have every confidence in the farming community to rally and make Irish agriculture great again if there is some improvement in the weather.

Photo of Eamon ScanlonEamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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I first raised this last November in the Dáil. At the time the Minister said in the Dáil that the Teagasc information to hand suggested there was no national fodder shortage in the country. What was a fodder shortage has become a fodder crisis. The Minister knows that I have raised this on numerous occasions in the Dáil.

There is an urgent need for swift action to be taken by Government to assist farmers in affected areas who have called for crisis fodder aid funding. We believe the best way to do that is through a meal voucher scheme. It gets the funding directly into the pockets of the farmer.

A Teagasc survey of impacted areas in December 2017 showed that 85% of farmers affected by fodder shortages in the north-west region had, on average, less than half of the fodder they needed for the winter period. The warning bells were ringing at that time; there is no question about that.

I come from the north west. It is the area I represent. I believe that area is the engine for producing beef cattle. That is where the suckler cows are and where the calves are produced that generate all the beef. We all welcomed the great announcement during the week of the deal that will see €100 million from China. However, I put it to the Minister that suckler cow farmers do not get support. They have been calling for a long time, through the IFA and ourselves, for a €200 suckler grant per cow to keep these people in business. Otherwise there will be no beef to export anywhere. That is the sad reality and that is where we are heading. I am not simply saying that; it is fact.

Reference was made to the geonomics scheme. As someone who was a butcher for 35 years I believe the scheme is downgrading the quality of our beef. Reference was made to greenhouse gases. Trying to put beef on and fatten Friesian calves will generate twice as much greenhouse gas because it is nearly impossible to get beef onto those calves. We should look after the good quality cows we have that produce the best beef in the world.

Photo of Margaret Murphy O'MahonyMargaret Murphy O'Mahony (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the farmers from Cork South-West who are in the Gallery. This is how grave the situation is: people made the long journey up from west Cork to be here this evening.

I commend my colleagues, Deputies McConalogue and Cahill, on bringing forward the motion this evening. Again, we have proved that Fianna Fáil is the party for the farmers. All my life I have associated Fine Gael with the big farmer. However, at the moment the Minister is not looking after the big, small or middling farmer. The Minister needs to sit up and take heed.

The fodder crisis in Cork South-West is now a state of emergency. My three offices have been inundated with farmers telling me of their plight. It is not good enough. It is in the Minister's hands to help them. I could talk about this issue for an hour. I feel very upset and emotional when I see grown men and women crying in my office over what they are going through at present.

As well as addressing the fodder crisis, I ask the Minister to pay the outstanding one third of the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, GLAS, and sheep farm payments that are due since last Christmas. I am referring to last year's payments that still have not been paid and at least that would give farmers a little more cashflow.

10:25 pm

Photo of Niamh SmythNiamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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This is not the first, the second or perhaps the third time Members have stood in the Chamber to request the Minister to take action on this fodder crisis. We have a national fodder crisis that has escalated day by day causing untold stress and strain on farmers, their families and entire rural communities nationwide. The Minister has sat on his hands on this issue with his head in the sand. As he well knows, Deputies McConalogue and Cahill and I, as well as many others in this House have repeatedly requested that he act on this issue but he has failed to listen to us, which means he has failed the farmers who are at the coalface of this issue. He could have acknowledged this was a growing crisis months ago. He could have advised farmers to rationalise their fodder. He could have prepared a contingency plan and introduced a meal voucher scheme for the farmers affected. He could have put extra resources in place to ensure the outstanding 2017 GLAS and sheep welfare payments were made available to alleviate the financial pressures on farmers but he did not. The one scheme designed to alleviate the problem was the Government's transport subsidy scheme which has been a complete failure with only 16 applications to date.

Farmers need swift action and by action I mean the putting in place of practical measures such as the provision of funding and financial assistance in terms of the meal voucher scheme. The Minister must acknowledge that the transport subsidy scheme has had the reverse effect and increased the price of fodder to four, or perhaps five, times the actual price, as was acknowledged here. We need a fodder action group to be set up. As the Minister is aware, this is the second time farmers have been affected by this issue in the past five years. We must take cognisance of that, act on it and not ignore a national crisis.

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I understand the Minister, Deputy Creed, is sharing his time with Deputy Sean Canney. I note Deputy Canney will speak first.

Photo of Seán CanneySeán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I welcome the representatives of the farmers' organisations, including those from Galway, who are in the Gallery tonight. This issue has brought together the farming representatives. We have had unprecedented weather since last August. Since race week, as they say in Galway, we have had bad weather. The weather and farming go hand in glove. I remember on our small family farm in Tuam we used to listen to Charles Mitchel reading the news at night to find out what the weather would be like the next day to make the hay or whatever. That has not changed but what has changed is the unprecedented level of rainfall and the unprecedented adverse weather we are getting right throughout the year. We have to examine how we will deal with that and how we will deal with farming.

I visited a number of marts in recent weeks to talk to farmers. They have worked and co-operated together to help out one another as best they can. They have worked with the representatives of the farming organisations and the co-operatives, where possible, to make sure they help one another.

We have listened tonight to a lot of what is wrong but we also must acknowledge and give credit to the farmers and their families, and the small family farms, for the way they keep beavering away. We can keep talking about what is wrong but we have to examine how we can put this right, and put it right into the future.

I acknowledge that I have been in contact with the Department about GLAS payments a number of times in the recent weeks and they have been forthcoming and farmers are getting paid. I understand that at this stage, 98% of the payments have been made. It is not as if no payments have been made but we need to make sure that pinch points are sorted out as they arise.

We must learn from this fodder crisis - I know the Minister will act on it - in the same way as when we had flooding events and put emergency plans in place. When we look at the future, we must bring together all stakeholders, including the banks, Teagasc advisers, farming organisations and the Department to find a way to ensure we prepare and are ready for these inevitable events that will happen. It is not something that we should start planning for next November. In two to three weeks' time all the stakeholders should be brought together to make sure we put a plan in place and plan for future events in a meaningful way in order that we can take some of some of the stress out of farming for farmers.

Photo of Michael CreedMichael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I acknowledge that the past six months have been extremely difficult for the farming community due to ongoing adverse weather. I agree with the previous speaker in that I believe we will come through this crisis because of the collaborative effort that is being made, which is the hallmark of the industry. That collaborative effort is manifest in the difficulties individual farmers have in the context of a fodder shortage. I acknowledge the role farm organisations and individual farmers are playing, in terms of good neighbourliness, in helping to resolve this issue. Rural communities generally, the co-operative movement, which is an extension of the meitheal approach, and my Department through its offices, Teagasc etc. have all been instrumental in that collaborative endeavour which will see us out.

I do not accept the premise of the motion, which serves a particular political narrative, that I have been slow to react. I do not accept that last September or October, this was a crisis we could envisage for April of this year. We have acted in the Department at all times in appropriate and measured ways as this story evolved. We had the permission to bring forward payments at the back end of last year at the maximum level. We had fodder budgeting advice from Teagasc, which always had meal as a part of it. That was the advice to stretch the fodder one had through the use of meal. We had the transport initiative at the end of January, we had an extension of that and a modification of the terminology to support imports of fodder at a later stage. Through all of that, we were in constant contact with those co-operatives, Teagasc, farm organisations etc. To be fair, we have acted appropriately in what has been a dynamic and evolving situation.

In the context of people who wish to claim they are the guardians of the family farm, I am who I am because I was raised on a family farm. It is who I am. I do not question the credentials of anybody here but I certainly do not surrender that concern to any quarter. I do not differentiate between big and small in the context of that family farming structure; they are all a part of that agricultural community. I will put my credentials upfront against any evaluation of anybody else in terms of looking after those who are most marginalised. We introduced and, by coincidence, paid through this crisis for the first time a sheep subsidy of €10 per ewe. That was not in place before. It was a commitment from this side of the House to acknowledge a sector that faced particular challenges.

As for the €25 million in additional moneys, which I acknowledge will be paid later this year, to restore cuts that were imposed by others in areas of natural constraint, ANC, we have skewed that payment deliberately towards smaller farmers. I do not surrender one iota in terms of the credentials of this party, myself, or the Government in terms of trying to look after rural communities and farmers.

There are issues. I take on board the point made by Deputy Martin Kenny and suggested by others. There are uncomfortable messages here in terms of climate change. Deputies Smyth and Ryan made that point. We are dealing with the visual personification of that challenge. It is uncomfortable and it is something with which we have to deal. I am committed to bringing together all of the aforementioned stakeholders in order that we can put in place the appropriate steps. Some of those will be steps in which my Department, Teagasc, the co-operatives and individual farmers will be obliged to acknowledge they all have individual roles to play. This is not a simplistic issue of saying we are over-stocked.

I am disappointed that Deputy Michael Collins would stand in the elected Parliament and say that cattle were dying of hunger and starvation in west Cork.

10:35 pm

Photo of Michael CollinsMichael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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They are.

Photo of Michael CreedMichael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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They are not.

Photo of Michael CollinsMichael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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The Minister is out of touch.

Photo of Michael CreedMichael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The figures that are available-----

Photo of Andrew DoyleAndrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Sit down. Deputy Collins does not know what he is talking about.

Photo of Michael CollinsMichael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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The Minister might not have seen it, but I have.

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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No, Deputies.

Photo of Michael CreedMichael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The figures that are available-----

Photo of Michael CollinsMichael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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The Minister should not be fooling himself.

Photo of Michael CreedMichael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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-----for January and February of this year-----

Photo of Michael CollinsMichael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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The Minister is deluded and out of touch.

Photo of Michael CreedMichael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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-----show a small increase on the figures for January and February of 2017 but are actually lower than the figures for January and February of 2016.

Photo of Michael CollinsMichael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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Do not tell me that. I have been speaking with these people for weeks.

Photo of Michael CreedMichael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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We acknowledge that there was a surge in March, but it was not because of cattle dying of starvation. That is an unfortunate message-----

Photo of Michael CollinsMichael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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They are dying of hunger-----

Photo of Michael CreedMichael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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-----that the Deputy is sending to-----

Photo of Michael CollinsMichael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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-----and mismanagement by the Minister.

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy, please.

Photo of Michael CreedMichael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I do not want to dwell on the point, but it is a shameful message to send out.

Photo of Michael CollinsMichael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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I wrote to the Minister telling him about this, but he would not answer.

Photo of Michael CreedMichael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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In the context of CAP reform, there is a debate to be had on the appropriate policy instruments that we need to put in place. Risk management is an issue. To date, this country has not availed of risk management tools that other countries see as a fundamental part of their protections. Our system does not function well. This is an area we can examine.

In terms of our commitment to family farms and thanks to the previous CAP reform and the move towards equalisation, we have transferred €180 million from large to small farmers over the lifetime of the current CAP. This Government, including my predecessor, the Tánaiste, wants greater supports for smaller holdings, which form a critical part of the fabric of rural Ireland, so please do not give us lectures. I do not question anyone's commitment to family farming, but the credentials on this side of the House in terms of acknowledging the particular difficulties of small holdings is second to none.

I take the point about the difficulties that individual farmers are facing. I also take Deputy Eugene Murphy's point about not saying that people are not suffering from mental health issues. It is a stressful situation, call it whatever else one will. The fundamental message is that assistance is available. I receive regular briefings from Teagasc, including today, about the situation across the country. I have been in contact with most, if not all, of the active co-operatives. Twenty-six importers have been approved and are receiving support from my Department to import fodder. Others are making fodder available locally. Fodder is being transferred from Deputy McConalogue's own county of Donegal to Tipperary. Deputy Cahill knows that. This is the kind of collaboration that will be at the heart of the effort that will get us out of this situation. My Department has a role to play in that context and we have stepped in.

I take Deputy Eamon Ryan's point that the next CAP reform will place greater obligations on us to acknowledge that we are living through climate change and will have to devise and gear payments and schemes so that our agriculture sector is sustainable. "Sustainable" means different things to different people, for example, economic, environmental and social sustainability. All of these are important, and they have been acknowledged in the context of Food Wise 2025, which we should not dismantle.

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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We need to conclude, Minister.

Photo of Michael CreedMichael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Its ambition is significant. The enduring engine of our economic recovery is agrifood. It has a great future. We can grow grass and conserve more grass. This is the fundamental message that should go out from this debate.

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank the Minister, but he must conclude.

Photo of Michael CreedMichael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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We have the technology as well as the people to deliver that advice to farmers.

Photo of Danny Healy-RaeDanny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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We cannot let cattle out to eat grass because the ground is too wet.

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Deputy, please.

Photo of Michael CollinsMichael Collins (Cork South West, Independent)
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Farmers will get nothing.

Photo of Danny Healy-RaeDanny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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Will the Minister do something for our people?

Photo of Lisa ChambersLisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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If the Minister believes that he has done a good job in dealing with the fodder crisis, I would hate to see what a bad job looks like. Apart from him, everyone in the Chamber will agree that we now have a crisis, one that could have been cut off at the pass and dealt with earlier, except he refused to do so. The main problem with the Government is that it likes to tie itself up in red tape. All of its schemes are difficult to access - it makes people jump through hoops to access them. It is afraid of being overly generous or giving a little bit extra. The bottom line seems to be constant penny pinching.

The Government persistently ignored the warnings from Deputy McConalogue and everyone on this side of the House. We told it that this would happen, but it ignored us. There are consequences for allowing matters to reach this stage. There is strain on farmers. One farmer who rang me was crying down the phone. I am not making up this - it actually happened. He is one of many who had been pushed to breaking point and was afraid that they would not be able to feed their cattle because the fodder crisis had got so bad and the Government seemed to have its head in the stand and was pretending this was not happening. The consequences mean that such farmers are in a difficult situation. They are wondering whether they will have enough fodder for next year because of the delays that have been caused.

The transport subsidy measure did not work. We told the Government the measure would not work, but it ignored us. The saving was not passed on to the farmer. In fact, the price of a bale increased. Today, I received a text message from a man from Swinford in my constituency of County Mayo. He told me he had been charged €80 for a bale. The quality of the fodder being acquired is often sub par.

The meal voucher scheme would have allowed farmers to plan ahead, put in decent quality food for their cattle and stretch out the bales they had, but the Government was worried about the extra few pennies, so it waited until matters got so incredibly bad that it was backed into a corner.

I do not have much time to contribute, but I can tell the Minister that the stress that he and his Department have caused is unforgivable. I wonder whether he will learn for when something like this comes around again.

Photo of John BrassilJohn Brassil (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the opportunity to contribute on what is a critical issue for farmers in rural Ireland. Rather than rehash the reasonable proposals that have been tabled in the debate so far, in particular the extension of the transport subsidy scheme and the meal voucher scheme for cattle and sheep, which I support, I will focus on an equally serious issue, that of the physical and mental well-being of the farmers affected.

The mental trauma of being a farmer who has to listen to his or her herd roaring with hunger but is not in a position to do anything about it is probably the worst place any farmer can be. I am reliably told that the Samaritans helpline is busy with calls from the farming community. When dealing with the practical issue of providing fodder and feed for farms, I ask the Minister to ensure that supports are put in place to help it deal with the detrimental effects on people's health, both now and into the future. Will the Minister liaise with the various farming organisations and include this important issue in the agenda?

Extreme weather conditions are now an annual occurrence. Simply hoping that the weather will turn fine is not a sustainable position into the future. We can expect similar crises in 2019 and 2020, so we need to be proactive rather than reactive in our methods of addressing this unfortunate but all too common event.

Photo of Anne RabbitteAnne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Ireland's fodder shortage has become a fodder crisis and national emergency, and it is past time for action. Engage meaningfully with the farming community. This is approximately the fourth time I have stood before the Minister, but I now make an impassioned plea to him to dispense with the rhetoric of the past months and take action. He should listen to what Deputies McConalogue and Cahill have proposed.

I challenge the Minister, his Department and the Government to let their minds pass the Pale. They have a complete disconnect and denial of what is going on in rural Ireland. Where is the Minister's forward planning now? Where are his sense of roots and his values? He stood across the floor and told us about his family farm, but where is his value for rural Ireland, for farming, which is the backbone of our economy, and for the work of the farming families who have remained committed to Ireland? Where is his sense of compassion?

Farmers are undergoing hardships that are endangering their mental and physical well-being. Does anyone care? Is Deputy Creed a Minister who cares? I hope he is. If he is, he will support what Deputies McConalogue and Cahill have proposed and introduce a hardship fund to help small and medium-sized farmers. He should also introduce a meal voucher scheme and make low-cost credit available. He should open the low-cost loan scheme, which was announced more than seven months ago. When will farmers have access to it? Do not tell me that it will be in the back end of 2018. He must ensure that GLAS balancing payments and sheep subsidy payments are made.

Support our motion, Minister. Do not ignore me.

Photo of Mary ButlerMary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The wet weather has continued unabated since last winter, leading to poor soil conditions and poor grass growth, and has prevented farmers from putting cattle out to grass in early April. The reality of the situation is as simple as that.

The scheme to subsidise the cost of importing fodder was welcome. It was finally an acknowledgement by the Government that there was a crisis. However, the actual cost of buying fodder has not been addressed. The majority of farmers do not have the cashflow to pay the upfront cost of additional fodder and concentrates. From speaking with farmers, this is the nub of the issue.

I am from the constituency of Waterford.

10 o’clock

I was very proud to see "Big Week on the Farm" filmed at Gillian and Neil O'Sullivan's dairy farm last week. It brought agriculture into the homes of every house in Ireland. It was fantastic. Like Deputy Chambers, I spoke to a farmer who broke down on the phone because he simply did not have the money to buy the fodder. He accepted that a lot has been done to bring fodder into the country but it may as well be still in England because he cannot afford to buy it. It has been estimated that many farmers are forking out an additional €1,000 per week to keep their animals fed. A new low-interest loan scheme has to be made available to farmers affected by the fodder crisis to pay the increased costs they face. They need it now. I call on the Minister to finalise and open the low-cost loan scheme announced over seven months ago in budget 2018. The banks involved in this loan scheme must be told not to make farmers jump through unnecessary hoops when applying for these loans.

I will hand over to my colleague, Deputy McConalogue.

10:45 pm

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank everyone for their contributions tonight and for their support of the motion. It was disappointing to see a number of Deputies from the Minister's party attack the Opposition and Fianna Fáil for coming forward with the motion instead of reflecting on the performance of the Government in dealing with the issue and trying to head it off.

In the Minister's comments he indicated he does not accept it was a crisis that could be envisaged. It is unfortunate to hear that at this stage because everyone here envisaged it and warned there was a fodder shortage in certain parts of the country which could develop into a crisis. There is something wrong with the Minister's processes and the way he dealt with this if he could not envisage it and be prepared for it. A key flaw in the process was the Minister's attitude to it, his denial there was a real problem brewing and his refusal to listen to the farming organisations who repeatedly urged him to prepare for and take on board that there was a problem. The Minister's responses, where there were responses, were not appropriate at the time. The Minister belatedly introduced a transport subsidy to transport fodder from one part of the country to the other instead of listening to the advice he was given to introduce a meal voucher. The transport subsidy which the Minister introduced resulted in the areas the fodder was being taken from eventually running out of fodder. It is a tremendous failure on the Minister's behalf to have put in place a scheme that contributed to the crisis rather than responding appropriately.

Everyone has acknowledged that the Minister cannot control the weather but he needs to have a sense of what is happening on the ground and be in a position to respond to it, be prepared for it and show leadership. Unfortunately, that has been entirely absent in the Minister's and Government's response to the fodder crisis. While the Minister continues to hope for the best, the situation is now what people warned him about, in other words, the fodder crisis we now find across the country.

We are asking the Minister to fully and properly respond and assist farmers over the next couple of weeks. Our motion outlined the need for a hardship fund and a meal voucher for those who are in trouble. We are also seeking the low-interest loan scheme to be introduced immediately. I understand that during the week the Minister indicated to farming organisations that it will not be available until the end of this year. We need to see the GLAS and sheep welfare scheme payments paid immediately. There also needs to be understanding for the farming community in terms of the inspection regime over the next period of time.

Farming is a very difficult pursuit. Farmers have to make a living not only to pay bills for their families and run their households but also to cover the costs of their farms and ensure, importantly, that their cattle can be fed. The Minister needs to recognise it is a very distressing time. Over the next couple of weeks he should perform his role as Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and give farmers the assistance they need to get through this very difficult period. I commend the motion to the House.

Amendment put.

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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In accordance with Standing Order 70(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time on Thursday, 19 April 2018.

The Dáil adjourned at at 10.05 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 18 March 2018.