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

Perhaps the Senator should speak to some neighbours. We are trying to solve the nub of the problem, which is getting fodder into Ireland, regardless of whether farms have money. If fodder is unavailable to buy, it cannot be procured at any price, which is the centre of the immediate crisis that must be solved. If farmers cannot afford to buy the fodder, we will intervene and buy it for them. We have made that very clear and we are doing it on a daily and confidential basis with farmers. Lack of credit should not prevent animals being fed, and I encourage farmers to talk to us if credit is a big problem in getting them through a difficult period.

People have raised the matter of animal deaths. In the first three months of the year there was no fodder access crisis, although there was a fodder quality issue throughout the winter because some farmers had poor fodder. Animals were not starving, and it was not the reason many animals lost their lives in the first three months of the year. The mortality rate was similar to 2009, with approximately 106,000 deaths on farms for the first three months of the year. In 2009, the figure was approximately 100,000. This is a bad year for animal mortality on farms but it is not a massive outlier either. One of the reasons there has been a significant increase in mortality this year is the very unusual weather in winter and poor quality fodder, although there was enough volume. Nutrition in herds was not as good as it should have been and the unusual weather patterns made it easier for disease to spread. There was also an increase in calving by approximately 3.5%, and much mortality occurs during calving. That also explains some of the increased figures.

By the start of May - a few days ago - the figure for this year was at 143,000 animal deaths on Irish farms.