Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I concur with my colleague. The farming community is facing a financial crisis. Fertiliser prices have gone up by 300% in the past three months. We are going to have a major issue from now until spring. Farmers have been told to pay up front for fertiliser. A senior politician stepped out and said that no money should be given to farmers. We need the Government to stand up and say enough is enough. We need to support the farming community. It is under enough pressure as it is. The media is fundamentally against the farming community on the majority of issues. After a gap of eight months, RTÉ has still not appointed a correspondent for agriculture. We need to have a strong statement from the Government supporting young farmers and what they do for our society.