Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent)
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32. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the measures he will take to assist farmers with price support in relation to the decline in the sterling exchange rate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32192/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The decline in the sterling exchange rate has been the most immediate impact for our agri-food exporters in the wake of the result of the UK referendum.  While this was not unexpected in light of the uncertainty caused by the referendum result, a prolonged period of currency volatility would be of concern.

A number of measures are being taken to deal with this impact. 

Bord Bia and Enterprise Ireland have been providing practical guidance to SMEs in areas such as managing volatility impacts, providing consumer and market insight, deepening customer engagement and extending market reach, with the aim of helping companies maintain their competitiveness.

In addition, I announced a comprehensive set of measures in Budget 2017 which tackle many of the underlying issues currently affecting farm incomes, as well as financially underpinning my Department's Brexit mitigation efforts, through strategic investment in key areas of the Department, in its agencies and in the agri-food sector. 

The measures include access to an innovative low interest agri-cash flow fund of €150 million. This loan fund will support highly flexible loans for up to six years, for amounts up to €150,000, at an interest rate of 2.95% and is available to farmers across the livestock, tillage and horticultural sectors.  These loans are aimed at strategically alleviating the pressures of income volatility and will help farmers to improve the management of their cash flow and reduce the cost of their short-term borrowings.

Other measures introduced in Budget 2017 include significant additional spending on farm gate schemes through the Rural Development programme, and a set of agri-taxation measures primarily aimed at tackling income volatility, increased funding of Bord Bia and BIM, investment in research & development and innovation, and increased expenditure on the Seafood Development Programme.

This is an evolving situation, which I am keeping under review.  Both I and my Department officials are working with colleagues across Departments to meet the challenges brought on by the currency fluctuations.