Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue has been urged “to come with a plan and funding” to the next meeting of the National Fodder and Food Security Committee (NFFSC).
The president of the Irish Creamery and Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA), Denis Drennan welcomed what he described as the minister’s “belated realisation” of the fodder situation.
In his latest comments, Minister McConalogue today (Friday, April 5), said he has asked his officials to work on a scheme similar to 2018 which brought fodder to farmers in need.
The NFFSC will convene again at 11:00a.m next Tuesday, April 9, to discuss the solutions currently being implemented across the country to help farmers in a fodder shortage.
The minister said the NFFSC will assess the most up to date situation at next week’s meeting, which will also receive an updated position from Teagasc on the situation around the country.
ICMSA
Responding to his comments, Drennan said while the “belated realisation of the alarming fodder situation” is welcome, it is important that the response is not “piecemeal and “bitty”.
Drennan said he thinks it might be “better” for the minister to assemble the data and unveil a full suite of measures at Tuesday’s meeting of the fodder committee.
Earlier this week, the ICMSA called for the committee to meet again today as weather forecasts showed unsettled conditions continuing for this weekend and into next week.
Storm Kathleen will bring very strong and gusty southerly winds to all areas tomorrow (Saturday, April 5), with several weather warnings issued for the whole country.
“ICMSA is not in the business of saying ‘we told you so’, but we registered our disquiet at what we thought was a degree of complacency on the part of officials [earlier this week].
“That might have been better than the minister scrambling around this evening to explain what might be happening, and giving the unfortunate impression that the department’s response is being made up ‘on the hoof’.”
Drennan also cautioned against the idea that the government can turn up on Tuesday and plead lack of funding.
“I can’t stress this enough. We had better not be given the kind of ‘poor mouth’ that we got from his officials this day last week,” Drennan said.
At the last meeting of the committee last Friday, March 29, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) told the committee that there is “no money” for a fodder support scheme.
“There’s no shortage of state funding for anything else – no matter how bizarre or questionable.
“Farmers are absolutely not in the humour to hear the minister or his officials pleading a lack of funds for the single most important and indigenous economic activity in this state,” he said.
Support package
Meanwhile, independent TD for Tipperary, Michael Lowry stressed the need for a “support package for the farming community” during a meeting with the new Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach-elect, Simon Harris.
“Farmers are diligent, hard working and committed to earning a living from the land. Due to prolonged persistent bad weather, farm practices are in disarray.
“Farmers are upset, disillusioned and on the brink of depression arising from unprecedented events and financial challenges. Their livelihoods are decimated and for many the outlook is catastrophic,” he said.
During his meeting, the independent TD highlighted that “every farm sector is fighting for survival”. “They are in desperate need of a once off financial aid package,” Deputy Lowry added.