James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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587. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the steps he will take to address the current access to credit crisis that some farmers are experiencing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15072/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Primary responsibility for banking policy lies with the Minister for Finance. However my Department liaises with the main banks on access to finance for the agri-food sector and, in cooperation with other State bodies, continues to explore new and more competitive sources of funding for the sector. For example, the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland introduced an ‘Agriculture Investment Loans’ product last year, which has been very well subscribed. Also, my Department is currently preparing to procure an ex-ante evaluation for the introduction of ‘Financial Instruments’ under the Rural Development Programme. All of the banks consider the sector to be vitally important and have specialised offerings to farmers and there continues to be a significant take-up of these funds. Data from the Central Bank shows that the ‘primary industries’ sector (consisting of primary agriculture, forestry and fishing) continues to be a significant component of new Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) lending, accounting for €734m or 21% of all new loans in 2015. Primary agriculture accounted for €649m or 19% of the total.

In context of current market difficulties, it is envisaged that some farmers will experience cash flow problems in the short to medium term. One of the initiatives recently agreed by the Dairy Forum (comprising farm organisations, co-ops and processors, the Department and its agencies, as well as the banking sector) is a programme of cash flow and financial management training and advice for dairy farmers. In collaboration with Teagasc, my Department has agreed a three part programme:

- The publication of a booklet entitled ‘Cash Flow & Financial Management on Dairy Farms’, which will issue to all dairy farmers shortly.

- Cash flow training to be incorporated in an upcoming programme of dairy farm walks in each of the Teagasc regions, where advisors will be on hand for one-to-one consultations and referrals.

- The development of a standardised 15-20 minute cash flow training module that can be delivered to dairy farmers at any stakeholder meetings held by Dairy Forum participants.

This programme will run in conjunction with the existing Teagasc ‘Get Farm Financially Fit’ engagement.

In addition I have scheduled a programme of meetings with the CEOs of the main banks to discuss liquidity and access to credit issues later this month and intend to engage with them on their plans for dealing with the current difficulties over the short to medium term.

My Department is also discussing with various stakeholders, including the farm organisations, any other options there may be to assist liquidity problems. I also welcome other innovative initiatives in this regard such as those introduced by Glanbia recently.

I am fully aware of the pressures on farmers right now and I am committed to working with all players in the sector, both at national and EU level, to address these issues.