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

I am happy to outline the status of the fodder issues at the moment, which are serious and have been for some time. The fodder crisis began this time last year because we really had no summer from June onwards. Parts of west and north County Cork, and County Kerry had only three days without rain from the start of June to the end of August. It was an extraordinary weather pattern that then continued to be hampered by the early onset of winter and the late arrival of spring. The result has been a significant shortage of fodder in parts of the country.

Even though we have been working with farmers through Teagasc, private advisers and others to try to extend the use of limited fodder for many dairy and beef herds for longer than would normally be used through winter, everybody had anticipated that we would have some kind of normal weather patterns after St. Patrick's Day, but that simply did not happen. We then moved into a crisis management situation where farms literally ran out of all fodder. While some accessed it from their neighbours for a period, eventually that ran out also. It quickly became clear that we would need to import very large volumes from abroad, which had never happened previously.

On 24 April I announced that we would essentially pay for the majority of the cost of transporting from the UK. I committed €1 million representing 1,000 truckloads. We have subsequently extended the scheme's deadline and have doubled the fund. The scheme ends on Friday but we have said we will extend it until Friday week on the basis of deliveries. However, we need clear indications from co-operatives, marts and others that are approved to import and avail of the transport subsidy - the Department has now approved many of them - of proof of purchase before Friday, but the delivery can take place into next week. The reason for that is as follows. We could take the option of simply extending each week resulting essentially in a drip feed of hay coming in each week as long as it is needed.

Instead we need to put pressure on organisations, co-operatives, marts and those importing to bring in a lot of fodder in a short time. In sticking to this Friday's deadline and extending the delivery period until end May, we are doing so. People understand the reason we are making that choice. As we move into June, we need to concentrate on the provision of our own fodder, if possible. If weather does not permit this, we will have to review the situation.

As of yesterday, some 2,158 loads of fodder have been contracted by dairy co-operatives, co-operatives and marts, 419 of which have yet to be delivered. To put this into context, this equates to more than 40,000 tonnes of fodder, which is enough fodder to feed between 5 million and 6 million animals for a day. This has been a mammoth task logistically over the past four weeks or so, which has resulted in huge volumes of, primarily, hay but also maize in the case of Glanbia, imported into Ireland. However, there are areas that continue to suffer and are unable to access as much fodder as they would like. In counties such as Leitrim, Roscommon and in parts of Mayo there are queues for the small numbers of bales available. We are in contact on a daily, and often hourly, basis with co-operatives such as Connacht Gold and others to try to get hay to where it is needed and with other co-operatives such as Dairygold, Glanbia and so on to try to compensate where there are real shortages. This work is ongoing. A lot of hay will continue to come into the country between now and the end of the week and into next week. I understand Dairygold will bring a shipload of fodder into Ireland. However, this has not been confirmed.

This is about not only feeding the crisis but allowing farmers, as an insurance mechanism lest this summer is the same as last summer, to get fodder into storage. We must plan for such a nightmare situation. We will continue to keep the pressure on in terms in bringing in large volumes of fodder and assisting where we can. For example, the head of the Irish Road Hauliers Association has been very helpful. Connacht Gold had a problem sourcing trucks and the Irish Road Hauliers Association has linked up with it to bring in large volumes of fodder, particularly to the west and north west of Ireland, including Donegal, which was hit badly last Saturday by very heavy rain. While in comparison to other parts of the country Donegal did not experience particularly high rainfall last summer, it is experiencing it now.

In terms of the emergency welfare line, I have consistently said that there is no reason any animal should starve, regardless of the availability of fodder. If a farmer is in crisis and is unable to afford to feed his or her animals or cannot access hay or silage he or she should contact my Department and we will help. The Department has responded to approximately 800 calls during the past month. It has helped in approximately 300 emergency situations and has put others in contact with co-operatives from whom they can obtain feed. More than €130,000 has been spent on getting hay into farmyards to ensure animals get the feed they need. We will continue to do this. This scheme will not close any time over the summer or next winter for that matter. The animal welfare helpline will remain open and the Department will remain supportive and discreet in terms of how it assists farmers so that there is no loss of face. This is about feeding and supporting animals. I would encourage farmers to avail of what is in place.

On mortality, there has been much talk about numbers reaching epidemic proportions and so on. It is important to put this into perspective. We do have a high mortality rate this year as compared with last year. Thus far, approximately 152,000 animals have died on farms this year as compared with 116,000 this time last year. It is important to put this into perspective. It amounts to a little more than one animal per farm. It is also important to note that we have a 3.5% increase in calving rates this year. There will always be some mortality during calving. The real problem is not that there are animals starving in fields - if there are we need to know about them and deal with it - but that animals are being housed at a time when they would normally be out, which has contributed to the spread of disease and other disease threats to which animals would not normally be exposed this time of year because they would be out in the fields in the fresh air. A series of things have led to the increase in mortality. It is important to put this into perspective so that people understand the reasoning behind it.

On farm payments, we are ahead in terms of access to payments around REPS 4. Some €167 million has been paid out thus far under that scheme, €35 million of which was paid out in 2013. Agri-environment option scheme, AEOS, payments are almost all paid. More than €3 million has been paid out during the past two weeks to farmers. We want to get as much cash out to farmers as we can, given their financial concerns. Discussions are ongoing with the banks and co-operatives in regard to making credit available. We are seeking interest-free credit for fertiliser purchases from the co-operatives in an effort to ensure grass growth as the land begins to dry out. Again, practically all of the co-operatives have responded positively to this request.

In terms of accessing an EU solidarity fund, we have pushed for this with the Commission. However, it is not a runner. While I do not have time now to go into the reasons for this they have been set out in detail today in the journal, which members can read tomorrow. If we could access this funding, we would do so. The fund is used specifically in relation to natural disasters and to compensate states in respect of the clean-up following natural disasters rather than to provide funding to individual farmers or private businesses. The fund is not, unfortunately, designed for what we are experiencing.

The real challenge for us now, apart from getting fodder to the parts of the country where it is needed, is to ensure that this does not happen again next winter. That is very challenging. We need to find a way of getting enough fodder into storage to ensure we do not have a repeat of this crisis, which would be very expensive for us to deal with next winter and spring. I am pleased to inform the House that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, and I today announced a temporary and targeted adjustment to two provisions of the nitrates regulations to support additional fodder production on Irish farms in the coming months. Essentially, we are extending by two weeks the periods during which farmers may spread fertiliser, thus extending the grazing season and, hopefully, getting a late cut of silage that normally would not be even considered by farmers because they would already have sufficient fodder in storage at this time. We are also addressing the phosphorous issue. As herds have been fed a great deal more meal than normal, this will have consequences in terms of the nitrates action plan and directive. We are also seeking some flexibility in this area.

We are dealing as best we can with the immediate crisis in terms of having established a low-call emergency helpline for farmers and continuing to subsidise the importation of large volumes of fodder. We are bringing a great deal of pressure to bear on bringing in as much fodder as is feasible and practicable. We are also doing a great deal of work with Teagasc to plan for the medium to long term issues around fodder. I cannot recall it ever being the case that farmers across the country have had no fodder in storage, with some few exceptions, while at the same time the grazing season in wet areas was four to six weeks behind and in better areas was two or three weeks behind in terms of normal growth patterns. We are under real pressure. The system is being tested. In my view, we have the capacity to respond to this positively and to ensure that we get enough fodder into storage for next winter. I am confident that we can do this, but it will not happen by itself.