asked the Minister for Agriculture if, in view of the crisis in agriculture in the west of Ireland, he will take steps to provide immediate assistance to help farmers to survive.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Crisis in Agriculture.
4.
Two weeks ago here in the House I explained what we had done to help farmers, particularly in the west, to get over the difficult conditions the Deputy is speaking about. I will name a number of them.
There is an increase in the beef cow grant from £32 to £70 this year. In a full year a total of £122 million will be paid out under the various headage schemes of which 80 per cent or £98 million will be spent in the disadvantaged areas. We made a number of changes this year because of the terrible climatic conditions which we have experienced and which are accepted now by everybody to have been somewhat worse in the west than anywhere else. We brought forward an initial payment of £15 in the beef cow grant last February. Previously the farmers did not have cash into their hands before the inspection took place.
We have increased the grant on silage storage facilities and it is possible now in the west to get 45 per cent of the cost of current costings to get people to build concrete bases and thereby make silage. The advisory service and I believe that is the only way forward at the end of the day to get more people into making silage because obviously the weather we have been experiencing consistently for a number of years militates against haymaking.
Last December I took the opportunity to pay in advance £4.90 for each breeding ewe against the ewe premium. That was another £7.2 million which went directly to farmers just before Christmas. We have done many other things that would take too long to mention which show the reaction by this Government to the problems people in the west are experiencing.
I accept what the Minister of State has said, but is he aware of the terrible plight of small farmers at the moment? The payments that have been made are being used to pay off bills in the co-operatives and their local suppliers because of the problems they had in trying to keep their stocks available over the winter during the bad weather. Will he accept that there is a need for an immediate financial injection? He talks about providing increased grants for silage. That is a 45 per cent grant, but the farmer still has to pay out money in order to build that slab. He has not got the money. Will the Minister of State accept that farmers want to put out nitrogen and other manures in order to get increased cropping but that they cannot buy the stuff at the moment? If he checks with the co-operatives he will find that they are holding stocks of nitrogen and fertilisers because the farmers are not able to buy them at the moment.
I acknowledge that. The Deputy and I are well aware of the problems. Were it not for the weather of the past 12 or 14 days the position would be much worse than it is. We are monitoring the situation week by week to see how it will develop. Question No. 11 will deal with this subject on the matter of Euro loans——
We will need a bit of co-operation and luck before we come to Question No. 11.
Against that background the Government have made several changes, admittedly small changes, but no one change can solve a basically weather related problem. I sympathise with the many people who have been caught up in a vicious circle, but against the background of the constraints that are on the Department of Agriculture we have done everything humanly possible to make that hardship more bearable. If we are blessed with a better summer from now on, many farmers will not be in as bad a position as they might otherwise have been.
Will the Minister of State accept that farmers will not be able to provide fodder for next winter because they are now grazing land which would normally be in meadow to be used for making silage or hay? Unless money is provided immediately they will have to sell off their stocks. At present even if they want to sell their stock they cannot get anything for them, especially for small store cattle. Will he accept that, added to all that, medical cards have been removed and social welfare has been withdrawn, and all these added expenses the farmer has to meet are crippling him and leaving him with no choice but to get off the land and sell off entirely or emigrate as he had to do in the past?
I believe we are a long way from the last part of the Deputy's expression of opinion that many people will leave the land. I want to put on the record of the House that anybody who has an interest in and knows the position knows that most of what Deputy Gallagher has mentioned is weather related. The problem has been a bad winter and a very bad spring. I hope the weather will improve. However, when we saw the crisis developing many things were put in place and we are monitoring the situation constantly to see what will happen. For the sake of all, the farmers and the PAYE sector, we hope the rest of this summer will enable farmers to cut their hay and silage.
Regarding the Minister's breakdown of the payments the Department have made, why was the payment of £15 per cow not made to the farmers of County Cork since it was made to farmers in all other areas?
That is a separate question.
The question deals with the west.
There is a technical reason for that and I will communicate with the Deputy.
Would the Minister of State not consider, as a positive approach to the problems in the west, amending the FIP to insure that he will have only one reference income rather than the three he has at present which militate against that region?
I introduced the FIP as a national scheme and I would be the first to admit that you may be sure we did not get it all right on the first day. No national scheme ever brought in was right on the first day. Certain small warts, so to speak, are beginning to appear in this and we will apply our minds to them. The problem Deputy Leonard and Deputy Gallagher speak about is that on the one hand the increased grant is an incentive to people to get into silage and on the other hand, as Deputy Gallagher says, no matter what the grant, people have not got the money to pay their part of the cost.
That is the position.
Not every farmer in the west is in trouble, but people are in trouble and no matter who they are we have great sympathy for them and will do everything we can to help them.
(Interruptions.)
However, Deputies are well aware that no one solution will cure all the problems.
(Interruptions.)
Deputy Naughten, and I am giving the final question to Deputy Noonan.
The Minister referred to the payment of a sheep subsidy, or part of it. When will the rest of it be paid?
We have expedited the inspection of the sheep and the flocks around the country this year and I hope to be able to pay it at least six weeks earlier than last year.
Deputy Noonan, a final question.
(Limerick West): Sympathy is not much good for the people concerned. What the Minister of State has outlined to us not alone today but on previous occasions is that he has merely allocated grants or funds which would normally be available. In some instances he advanced the payments.
Would the Minister consider doubling the headage grants in certain areas in the west to the affected farmers, to the maximum amount possible? Perhaps the Minister might also consider making interest free loans available to the small number of farmers who are badly affected, which could be done through the co-operatives. These are positive suggestions and the Minister should seriously consider them.
Nothing is contemplated at present but we are constantly monitoring the situation to see how it develops.