Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to follow on from your comments, a Chathaoirligh, in welcoming the delegation from north Cork, Bart Donegan and his two daughters. I served with Bart on Cork County Council and his father, Mick Donegan, the girls' grandfather. He was a great patriot and a great person and I worked very well with him over the years. It is great to have them in the House.

I raise the plight of the agricultural community that seems to have materialised following the drought, in particular in the past five to six weeks. Four and a half months ago we had snow and now there has been no rain in my part of the country for the past five and a half to six weeks. There is a knock-on effect on the water supply and grass growth has become a major issue. Other crops are affected as well, in particular spring cereals.

We must consider how we will manage the vast amount of stock in the future. We have 365,000 extra cows in the country since 2013. We must have a plan in place for when we have extreme weather events. In the past five years, in both 2013 and 2018, we went to France to get fodder for the winter. Given the scenario we are in at the moment we must come up with a long-term strategic plan so that we are not going to France when the situation develops into an emergency. If we have to import fodder it should be done on a managed basis. The situation is becoming dire in that most of the second cut of silage has been either grazed or cut and fed to cattle. Fodder will be an incredibly important issue for the agricultural community for the coming winter.