Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 March 2017
24. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when he will announce details of an aid package to be paid to grain farmers in counties that had suffered from serious weather conditions during the harvest of 2016, further to a vote in Dáil Éireann vote on 19 January 2017 in which a majority of the members of the Dáil voted for such a package to be put in place. [12186/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI hosted a further Tillage Stakeholders Forum on Thursday 16 February which consisted of representatives from all sides of this Sector.
Addressing the Forum, I took the opportunity to highlight that one of my priorities has been to address the impact of the change in the sterling exchange rate and lower commodity prices in some sectors, which have caused cash flow difficulties for farmers.
Therefore I was pleased to facilitate the “Agriculture Cashflow Support Loan Scheme”, which was developed by my Department in co-operation with the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) and makes €150 million available to farmers throughout Ireland at interest rates of 2.95%. Distributed through AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank, it provides tillage farmers with a low cost, flexible source of working capital and will allow them to pay down more expensive forms of short-term debt, ensuring the ongoing financial sustainability of viable farming enterprises. The loans are for amounts up to €150,000 for up to six years and are flexible with interest only facilities of up to three years. Although there are no official figures as yet on the drawdown from the Scheme, very strong interest has been reported.
As an additional support to cash flow on farms, including Tillage farms, that to date €1.18 billion has been paid out to 123,648 farmers and payments are ongoing. Payments of €200.8 million have also been made to 93,854 applicants under the Areas of Natural Constraints Scheme.
I can confirm to the Deputy that a wide ranging discussion took place among all the stakeholders who attended the Forum, including on the issue of crop losses as a result of the poor harvest conditions of last autumn. My officials have since then had some further with stakeholders, and I will consider further the outcome of those deliberations.
