Given that farmers will have lost more than €3 million, it should be possible to provide some assistance to compensate them in some way. The Minister may be aware that in some cases their total annual kill was lost for which they did not get paid. This will spell ruin for a number of farmers.
Following the Taoiseach's meeting with farmer representatives in November, farmers held out some hope that some aid would be provided, but that has not materialised. Will the Minister examine the possibility of compensating farmers for some of their losses, perhaps under the slaughter premium scheme or through some other provision, given that I understand from the liquidator there will be very little money available to farmers in the winding up of the company?