Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

None of us had envisaged the fodder crisis when this Bill was being drafted but to take on board the Minister's comments on animals being malnourished or not treated properly, are there implications in the Bill before Members regarding farmers who financially are not in a position to feed their animals? If an authorised person, that is, an officer from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, visits a farm and finds emaciated animals and a farmer or someone else who is unable to pay for the fodder or whatever in a situation similar to what has been experienced in recent months, are there implications in the Bill for such people and for farmers in particular who find themselves in difficult circumstances and who cannot feed animals? I acknowledge the Minister has stated that in the current fodder crisis, this will not happen to any animal, as food will be provided, etc. However, I am trying to foresee other tragedies or crises that may arise which would see the farmer in a position in which the animals become emaciated. Some farmers are concerned that they might be reported to the RSPCA or the ISPCA about the welfare of the animals and so on.