I welcome that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry is present to reply to this serious issue.
Henshaws is a factory with a long history of providing good service to farmers. It is extremely unfortunate it has experienced financial difficulty. I understand a liquidator or receiver has been appointed recently. There are a number of farmers with cheques that are of no value as a result.
These farmers did not choose to send their animals to Henshaws. Some animals are bought by the Department under the valuation scheme. Others are bought by the Department from the farmer as a result of a tender system into which the Department enters each week. It advises the factories the number of animals available and receives tenders accordingly. The Department decides which tender to take and organises for the animals to be removed to the meat factory.
The animals bought under the valuation scheme are paid for directly by the Department. Those bought under the tender system are paid for partly by the Department under a grant structure and partly by the factory. The farmers concerned at no time make contact with the factory. In many cases farmers have requested that they be allowed send their animals to a factory of their choosing, but the Department has refused such requests.
Some 191 farmers nationally, who are in this position, are owed approximately £201,000. In County Monaghan, which I and the Leas-Cheann Comhairle represent, approximately 54 herds are affected. Between 5 September and 4 October 155 animals were removed, which is an average of fewer than three animals per herd. Twenty one of those 155 animals were bought under the valuation scheme, the rest were bought under the grant system.
The Department refused to buy the other animals under the valuation scheme because the regulations state that unless a farmer has more than six animals, the Department has to take them under the grant structure. Therefore, these farmers had no choice.
How can it be that one farmer, whose animals were bought under the valuation scheme, might be paid in full while another farmer living on the same road, whose animals were bought under grant structure, might not be paid? The Department bought these animals and those farmers must be paid not just for the sake of the money but for the sake of goodwill if this structure is to continue.
The valuation scheme was introduced under the PPF last year. Those farmers who can avail of it have major questions about it. A maximum payment applies for pure breed animals. The payment is £2,000 for females and £2,500 for males. A farmer told me recently that he had bought a female animal for £3,500 last year and although the animal is in calf now and much more valuable, £2,500 is the maximum he can be allowed for that animal.
The main problem is there are not enough valuers to make this scheme work properly. My county has one of the highest records of TB, but there is no valuer in County Monaghan. A valuer should be based in a county such as Monaghan in order that this issue can be speeded up and reactors removed from farms as quickly as possible.
Why were farmer applications for the valuation post not accepted? Was the Department worried that those people may know too much and be too sympathetic towards farmers? Why are valuers not allowed use their discretion or common sense? They must fill in 103 boxes on the required form. That does not allow for common sense to prevail. Many farmers are being told by valuers that they would like to be allowed use common sense, but the regulations tie them.
This is a new scheme, but if we are to have the goodwill of those who suffer enough as a result of disease among their animals, we must review this scheme to ensure it is workable and farmers get reasonable compensation, no more and no less.
