I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for allowing me to raise this matter on the Adjournment.
There is a crisis in agriculture that is particularly serious for farmers in Cavan-Monaghan. Staff shortages in the FDS mean that REPS applications are not being dealt with and grants under the scheme are not being paid. Farm waste and dairy hygiene grants are not being processed. They are not being paid, nor are new agreements being issued to allow work to continue.
The Minister is causing serious problems as far as many farmers are concerned. It is serious and not a joke or a laughing matter. My secretary received a representation from a farmer in west Cavan who is awaiting a farm building grant for a slatted house. He has been told that, although the forms have been submitted, received and passed by an administrative officer, they cannot be passed to the superintendent to be signed for payment because one person is not available in the office. The same situation applies in County Monaghan. Would this happen in any other office? The man to whom I refer is a father of seven young children and has to pay his children's allowance to the bank to keep it satisfied and allow the business to continue. I understand from my council colleagues in the area that a person would have to see the situation to understand its seriousness. Also on the list is a young man who came through the trauma of the Omagh bombing when his fiancée was seriously injured. He has not been able to receive payments of any kind for the last number of months. How are we going to encourage young people to come into farming and how will they be kept there? Another woman with her own problems cannot get grants or REPS payments. The chairman of the IFA in the county telephoned me in desperation. He told me there is going to be a serious crisis.
This has nothing to do with the major national dispute, it relates to the problem with farm development. I understand the man from Monaghan has already received his letter of appointment but he will not be released from Navan. Can the Minister of State justify that farmers in Monaghan should have their money withheld, or be prevented from doing work, simply because a man is not allowed to move from Navan to Monaghan?
The list continues and in many cases it is younger farmers who have made the effort to control pollution. Pollution and dairy hygiene grants were two of the issues that were fought for for years but were out of vogue for a while. These grants allow farmers to control waste. Farmers are under pressure from local authorities and the Department of Agriculture and Food to do this. They are also under pressure from dairies and the Food Safety Board to have their dairy hygiene grants put in place.
I first brought this to the notice of the Minister many weeks ago and I have also spoken with civil servants. I do not think the Minister of State will be able to give me an adequate reply in the five minutes allotted to him. We need a further debate on agriculture in this House to discuss the crisis it is going through. There has been no debate on the Fischler proposals, WTO talks or the demise of farming. The number of people leaving the sector is unprecedented. There is a lack of support for young farmers.
The national dispute that is affecting other areas must also be mentioned, as there is a danger of it spreading. I know it is before the courts and the Minister of State will tell me it cannot be dealt with. It will have to be dealt with eventually. The dispute is preventing stock from being sold. It is causing chaos, putting serious financial pressure on farmers and should not be allowed to continue.
I am pleading with the Minister of State, on the day when the House will close for ten days, to deal with this issue conclusively and positively before we meet again. Otherwise, many farmers will be forced out of business and there will be serious consequences. While I do not want to spell these out, the Minister of State knows what I mean.
