Results 1-20 of 1,015,435 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Christopher O'Sullivan OR speaker:Pádraig O'Sullivan) in 'Committee meetings'

Weather-Related Supports for Farmers: Statements (Resumed) (24 Apr 2024)

Violet-Anne Wynne: I welcome the opportunity to speak up for farmers in County Clare. I wish to show the House a document that we recently received from the IFA in Clare, entitled “Enough is Enough”. Farmers have felt completely disregarded by the Government in terms of not receiving enough support and respect for the work they do, what that work provides to their local communities and the...

Weather-Related Supports for Farmers: Statements (Resumed) (24 Apr 2024)

Catherine Connolly: Before the Minister replies, I will allow Deputy Martin Kenny to contribute for three minutes.

Weather-Related Supports for Farmers: Statements (Resumed) (24 Apr 2024)

Martin Kenny: I apologise for missing my earlier speaking slot, but I was at a committee meeting. Everyone recognises the challenging weather we have had, not just this spring, but over the past eight or nine months of rain, particularly in our part of the world in the north west. I was on a farmyard with a farmer the other evening in Cloone, County Leitrim and he had just four bales of silage left,...

Weather-Related Supports for Farmers: Statements (Resumed) (24 Apr 2024)

John McGuinness: The farmers I come across in my constituency are dealing with serious issues of finance on their farms and need all the support they can get. They are facing all sorts of challenges, some relating to climate change and others relating to the sheer administration of their enterprise. The weather has not helped and is not helping them, and while it is quite different now and it is good to see...

Weather-Related Supports for Farmers: Statements (Resumed) (24 Apr 2024)

Michael McNamara: I am sharing time. I find myself, as is often if not always the case, in agreement with what Deputy McGuinness said but I acknowledge that farm inspections, for example, have been eased in the circumstances, which has come as some small relief to farmers given the pressure they were under. In the brief time available, I will discuss the fodder transport scheme. While it is well...

Weather-Related Supports for Farmers: Statements (Resumed) (24 Apr 2024)

Marian Harkin: Today we are discussing weather-related supports for farmers. Many farmers in the north west are paying a very heavy price, both in income lost and, indeed, in the context of their own well-being and mental health, as they grapple to keep going with the poor weather that has dogged the west and the north west since August of last year. It is not just about keeping going; it is about seeing...

Weather-Related Supports for Farmers: Statements (Resumed) (24 Apr 2024)

Michael Collins: Agriculture is a bit like fisheries in that it has been thrown to the dogs by previous governments and by this Government in particular. I spent several hours canvassing in Macroom mart last Saturday. I met many farmers who are furious about how the Government has acted. They are absolutely livid. When Deputy Tóibín spoke about a Dublin-oriented Government, they were nodding in...

Weather-Related Supports for Farmers: Statements (Resumed) (24 Apr 2024)

Catherine Connolly: I thank the Deputy. I gave him more time due to the interruption. I move on to Deputy Cathal Crowe, who has a 30-minute slot. He is the only person from his group here at the moment.

Weather-Related Supports for Farmers: Statements (Resumed) (24 Apr 2024)

Cathal Crowe: I will speak for seven minutes. If someone sneaks up behind me, the Leas-Cheann Comhairle can alert me and I will stop talking. I share many of the concerns that other Deputies have articulated today. I farm. I have 26 sucklers, short-horn Herefords and around me are farmers. My father and older members of my family recall a time when our village had 25 or 30 farmers. It is now down...

Weather-Related Supports for Farmers: Statements (Resumed) (24 Apr 2024)

Carol Nolan: I am sure the Minister is aware of the correspondence we all received yesterday from the Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland, FCI. It outlined that the knock-on impact of the recent weather is that less than one third of the normal spring work has been completed. Against this background, the FCI is requesting that the Minister postpone the planned introduction of the...

Weather-Related Supports for Farmers: Statements (Resumed) (24 Apr 2024)

Michael Healy-Rae: It has been an horrendous time since the end of September up until last week, where cattle were housed and the tillage men were completely delayed and held up. I am certainly not coming into this House to attack the Minister, but there is one thing I would reinforce and ask him to do. We want to work with him. We should all be trying our best for the farmers of Ireland. I have one genuine...

Weather-Related Supports for Farmers: Statements (Resumed) (24 Apr 2024)

Danny Healy-Rae: I have been a farmer all my life and I understand very well what farmers are going through and have gone through since 16 June last, since it started raining first. This €100 per hectare is €40 per acre for grain. God almighty, €40 an acre would not bring home one bag of messages. Farmers are being blamed for everything. Farmers are providing food, and if we do not...

Weather-Related Supports for Farmers: Statements (Resumed) (24 Apr 2024)

Mattie McGrath: In ainm Dé, buíochas le Dia, the weather, tá an aimsir tirim inniu. We have had good weather for the past week and it is so badly needed, praise the Lord, because we cannot do anything without God, in my opinion. The weather helps everything. I just spoke to my neighbour, Diarmuid McGrath, and he is setting the potatoes today. We will have potatoes for Christmas dinner. We...

Weather-Related Supports for Farmers: Statements (Resumed) (24 Apr 2024)

Catherine Connolly: I am not sure those comments are warranted, Deputy.

Weather-Related Supports for Farmers: Statements (Resumed) (24 Apr 2024)

Mattie McGrath: They are.

Weather-Related Supports for Farmers: Statements (Resumed) (24 Apr 2024)

Catherine Connolly: Perhaps you could refrain from referring to dogs.

Weather-Related Supports for Farmers: Statements (Resumed) (24 Apr 2024)

Mattie McGrath: I mean dogs metaphorically.

Weather-Related Supports for Farmers: Statements (Resumed) (24 Apr 2024)

Catherine Connolly: I know that.

Weather-Related Supports for Farmers: Statements (Resumed) (24 Apr 2024)

Frank Feighan: I thank the Minister and Minister of State for the work they are doing. We have dealt with many evolving issues in the past four years since they took office and I thank them for sitting down and listening, not only to me but to the farmers in my constituency. I appreciate that. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on behalf of the farmers I represent and to highlight the unique...

Weather-Related Supports for Farmers: Statements (Resumed) (24 Apr 2024)

Ruairi Ó Murchú: We all know the situation because we have all dealt with farmers across our constituencies. They have spoken to us about the difficulties they have had to deal with lately. To some extent we knew from January that we were going to have a fodder shortage and that particular issues would need to be addressed. I cannot let this moment go without bringing up again the serious floods in...