At Question Time to-day I asked the Minister for Agriculture.
"if he is aware that farmers in the Wolfhill, Timahoe, Doonane and Killeshin areas, Leix, are in a serious plight, as they have lost almost all their live stock through disease; if he will state whether the veterinary section of his Department have caused this area to be inspected and the nature of the disease reported upon; also, the date on which his Department received notice of the circumstances that had arisen in this area, and the date of the inspection; and if he will further state what action it is proposed to take to obviate further losses of this kind, whether advice and assistance will be given by the veterinary section, and what compensation will be made available to those who have suffered these serious losses."
The Minister replied:—
"I am aware that there have been losses of live stock in the areas mentioned in the Deputy's question, and from reports furnished by agricultural and veterinary officers it would appear that these losses are due to malnutrition, and fluke infestation, aggravated, no doubt, by the recent severe weather.
I understand that to a great extent the affected animals are not at present in a condition to enable veterinary treatment to be given to them, but so far as this can be done I see no reason why the local veterinary practitioners should not be able to afford the necessary attention.
As previously indicated, I cannot undertake to compensate farmers in respect of losses of this kind."
It is with very deep regret that I am compelled to raise this matter on the adjournment to-night and to direct the attention of the Minister to the very serious plight of the farmers in that part of County Laoighis. The Minister and his advisers are aware that this area comprises wet late soils where there is very little tillage and where the living of the people is mainly from the rearing of young cattle, small-scale dairying and rearing of bonhams. Very little of the land is arable and such grain crops as are grown are usually small in extent and poor in yield and generally are used on the farms as foodstuffs.
Last November I directed the attention of the Minister for Agriculture at the time, Dr. Ryan, to the very serious plight those people would be in if the Department did not carry out an immediate investigation of their conditions and apply some remedy. On the 14th November the Minister, in reply to a supplementary question which I put to him, stated he would be prepared to investigate the question of the plight of the small farmers in the area if further information was placed at his disposal by the county committee of agriculture.
I may say that I have visited this area, like other Deputies, and have seen for myself the very serious circumstances of those people. They are all small farmers, the highest valuation in that whole district of County Laoighis being in the region of £56. The losses are very serious in the area, as they have lost practically all their live stock and their sole means of livelihood is gone. I can give an example of one constituent of mine, Andrew Murphy of Crossard, who had 15 cows. Seven of them are dead and I understand to-day that two more have died. A man named Wheatley in Wolfhill had seven cows and sold milk to the people in the district and all these seven cows are dead. Another farmer by the name of John Knowles of Crossard had four cows and was depending upon them for a livelihood. Three of them are dead and one is dying. John Coady of Aughadereen, Wolfhill, had seven cows. Four of them are dead and the remaining three are in poor condition. To-day I have been informed that the small farmers in the area have made application to the local industry to see if they can possibly secure a day's work or find employment in the local coal mines. The Laoighis County Committee of Agriculture have been very seriously and deeply interested in having some action taken to relieve the plight of those farmers. They made a request to the Department to take steps to have some of the available animal feeding, that is, maize, brought immediately into the areas of Wolfhill, Doonane, Tolerton and Killeshin, if the remaining live stock are not to perish as a result of hunger. They also made a request that a grant be given to enable those farmers to restock their lands. I put it very straight to the Minister: what hope have those small farmers of restocking their lands? They have gone out of business completely as their sole means of livelihood is gone. Here we find that, for the Government, the Minister has replied that he is not prepared to compensate those farmers who have suffered very serious losses and he is not prepared to give them any financial assistance to enable them to restock their lands. The county committee request, alternatively, if a grant could not be made available for that purpose, that a loan be given to those people, interest free for the first three or five years, to enable them to restock.
I want to point out to the Minister that I have a very intimate knowledge —like other Deputies from the constituency—of this area and the nearest foodstuffs available to which they can have recourse are 35 miles away. When they are available they are 18/-to 25/- a cwt., that is £18 to £25 a ton. Surely, if feeding-stuffs are available at that cost, they are out of the reach of these poor unfortunate small-holders and they are unable to secure them. As a result of this very serious plight, the people who work in the local coal mines, Fleming's Fire Clays in the Swan and children attending local schools and citizens generally of Wolfhill area are unable to obtain a pint of milk to-day. The morning I arrived in Wolfhill, to see conditions myself, I was told by one of the men I referred to who had seven cows, that he had to leave his house and borrow a cup of milk from a neighbour to colour his tea on Sunday morning and the neighbour in his generosity deprived his own child and family of the milk they needed. This is a case where the Government should take some action and come to the assistance of these people.
The Minister has the facts and statistics before him from the county committee of agriculture. He knows that in the area of the four townlands I mentioned—Wolfhill, Doonane, Killeshin and Tolerton—140 milch cows have died. Look at the loss of that. They have lost 250 yearlings, 120 two-year-olds, 40 heifers, 70 sheep and 54 lambs. The Government should take steps to aid those people in their deplorable plight and see that they are given some measure of compensation whereby they may be enabled to restock their lands. There was a meeting held recently in Wolfhill at which the following resolution was passed:—
"That owing to the losses suffered by the farmers in this area we request the Minister for Agriculture to examine our position with a view to devising means to enable us to earn our livelihood."
The local curate, the T.D.s, the members of the county council and of the county committee of agriculture all pledged their support to the just demand in that resolution. I hope the Minister will see fit to grant some measure of relief to these unfortunate people. If he does he will be rendering a great service to them and to other farmers throughout the country who have suffered similar losses. The Governments in Great Britain and in Northern Ireland have done that for their people, and a Minister is actually sponsoring a fund to receive subscriptions to help farmers in England and Northern Ireland to overcome their losses. The Minister at the other side has appealed to the people to subscribe generously to that fund. That is what is required here to enable our farmers to restock their land.
I have already indicated the big losses which these farmers have sustained through the death of their live stock. Not only the owners are affected by these deaths, but the working-class people in the area who are deprived of supplies of milk and butter. In fact, this has meant a great loss to the people of the country. Even at the present time cattle are dying in the area. The Department should provide a free veterinary service for these people. The Minister, in his reply, said the local veterinary surgeon would be able to cope with the work, but how could these unfortunate farmers pay for his services? There should be a veterinary surgeon sent there by the Minister. I hope he will be able to do something for people who have suffered such heavy losses, and that he will make a grant or a loan available for them. They have been deprived of their sole means of livelihood.
