Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I accept that DAS payments are a matching fund so they are slightly different from the single farm payment. I have had many conversations with people in banks over the past two weeks and they all suggest there should be short and medium term credit facilities in place for most farmers. This is not about refinancing loans for machinery, buying land or renting conacre but rather dealing with a fodder problem. There are credit facilities available specifically for that problem. For example, Ulster Bank has set aside €25 million specifically for a weather or fodder fund, and it has not been drawn down. I spoke to representatives of Bank of Ireland approximately ten days ago and only about 65% of the available overdraft facilities were being drawn down by many farmers. There was a 15% increase in the number of requests for increased overdraft facilities among farmers and in the rest of the economy the figure from Bank of Ireland is 37%.

The figures suggest two points. The first is that farmers, for whatever reason, do not feel comfortable going to banks, which is a problem in itself.