Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister's announcement on the fodder crisis. However, despite repeated calls for a fodder support scheme, the Minster has only indicated his intention to help pay for the transportation of fodder. Farmers in many areas across the west and north west are experiencing severe fodder shortages. That is putting a massive financial strain on already hard-pressed farmers and the Minister's announcement will do very little to help those farm families. We have been calling for a meal voucher scheme to be rolled out as a matter of urgency, and given the huge departmental underspend last year, there is no reason some of this money could not be directed to assist affected families. A meal voucher scheme would help fund the increased use of cereal-based concentrate feeds on farms in affected areas and would allow farmers to reduce significantly their requirement to feed grass-based fodder, which is in short supply. During similar previous crises, Teagasc developed meal with a forage content and that would be suitable for use as a feed as it would provide the forage requirements needed by the animals.

There is a need for permanent funding to be sought to protect farmers from losses incurred during severe weather. There seems to be an ongoing crisis in that regard every year. Unfortunately, the Government chose not to include a measure in Ireland's Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 which would compensate farmers from losses caused by adverse weather. Under the available suite of measures, member states can provide for funding for the restoration of agricultural land and production damaged by natural disasters and adverse climatic events. Not only do we have a fodder crisis but last year there was a tillage crisis and the grain sector suffered most from the climatic conditions. Tillage farmers are desperately hoping that dry weather will take hold so their harvest will not be destroyed for a second year in a row.

I wish to address the issue of a dairy intervention with the Minister. As he may be aware, Fianna Fáil has requested that he urgently attends the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine to outline his backing for the removal of EU price supports to dairy farmers. We are very concerned that the Government has given a blank cheque to the European Commission's proposal effectively to remove the floor price for skimmed milk powder, SMP. The move represents a significant reversal of EU policy. Since the CAP reforms under Agenda 2000, intervention has served to act as an effective floor price and eliminate the more extreme negative price fluctuations. This safety net has given certainty to dairy farmers and removing it for any period is playing with fire. The Minister must seriously reconsider his support for the agreement to reduce the quota for intervention from 109,000 tonnes to zero. If that goes ahead, the price of milk at the farm gate will seriously reduce. We are all well aware of the massive investments made by farmers in the dairy sector, in particular in recent years.While some might have the impression that there is a good price for milk, most of them are up to their necks in debt. This change to the skimmed milk powder intervention, as the Minister is quite aware, will bring down the farm-gate price of a litre of milk. Next year, it will not be fodder or cereal growers but dairy farmers who are knocking on door of the Minister. Prevention is the best cure in many instances. There is still time to make sure this does not happen.