Taoiseach dismisses calls to set up committee on fodder crisis

Demands to set up an emergency committee to deal with the fodder crisis have been dismissed by Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

The call was made by Independent TD for Tipperary South Mattie McGrath, who accused the Government of not doing enough to deal with the situation.

Mr McGrath said the Government was dragging its feet at a time when fears over suicide rates among farmers are increasing.

“The Government response to the fodder crisis has been inaction and paralysis,” he said.

“There is a national strategic committee that comes together under the Taoiseach’s direction at times of flooding, snow and other crises which are much smaller in area than the country-wide crisis in fodder. I demand the Taoiseach to convene that committee.”

Mr Kenny insisted that the Government was dealing with the crisis well.

“It is nonsense to say nothing is being done about this by the Department of Agriculture. They have been very proactive in dealing with the fodder crisis, which principally arose from the very cold and bad weather that has been unusual this year and has had a direct impact on the input costs for farmers having to buy feedstuff.

“Over 2,000 payments from the agriculture environmental options subsidy have issued during the past two weeks and together, these payments are valued at approximately €3m.”

Mr Kenny has agreed to examine whether land banks in State ownership could be made available for harvesting to help alleviate the ongoing fodder crisis.

Clare Labour TD Michael McNamara told Mr Kenny there are many suitable sites, including Thornton Hall prison site in Dublin, where a few hundred acres are available.

Last month, after being approached by the Irish Farmer’s Association (IFA), management at Shannon Airport opened up 300 acres to allow a contractor cut more than 2,300 bales of grass for struggling farmers.

Airport authorities donated the bales to the IFA and also made a substantial financial contribution towards the harvesting.

Mr McNamara said that without the intervention of Shannon Airport, many Clare farmers would have been hard-pressed to acquire much needed fodder.

He believes this example should be followed by a firm commitment from the Government to help farmers who are in need of urgent feed supplies following the wettest summer on record which was followed by a long, wet winter.

The Taoiseach has told Mr McNamara that he will ask Brian Hayes, minister of state at the Office of Public Works, to look into the matter.