The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) is calling for financial supports for farmers who were excluded from the Shannon Callows Flood Scheme (SCFS).
The €800,000 scheme was announced by government last year to support farmers who had lost fodder due to severe flooding in the Shannon Callows.
Thousands of acres of silage and hay in the region were destroyed and left unsalvageable as a result of the flood water.
Payments were made at a rate of €325/ha for farmers affected by fodder loss on a minimum of 1ha and a maximum of 15ha.
Shannon Callows
The chair of Offaly IFA Pat Walsh told Agriland that up to 60 farmers in the Shannon Callows could not avail of payments under the scheme.
He said that this was due to the satellite system used by Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) not detecting flooding in fields where grass had not been grazed and was high.
However, Walsh said these lands were indeed flooded and fodder could not be saved.
“It’s quite unbelievable that a person one meter away with a callow who had a poor crop could get the money and the person next door had a good crop of grass and didn’t get the money.
“From the time the flood came in on July 12 the Shannon has been in flood since. Nobody on the Shannon Callows got fodder in 2023,” he said.
Walsh said the farmers impacted by the flooding have been forced to source fodder elsewhere.
“They were quite pleased with the compensation fund that was offered and those who got their money were happy enough, but those people who were left out, that’s a pure disgrace,” he said.
The Offaly IFA chair said that Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue assured him at the association’s annual general meeting (AGM) in January that he would review the situation facing the farmers.
“It’s totally unacceptable that there has been no response, no movement, no effort been made to resolve this situation that’s so genuine. It’s unbelievable,” Walsh said.
Local Fianna Fáil TD Barry Cowen is due to visit the Shannon Callows on Friday (March 22).
Scheme
Last month, Minister McConalogue said there were “no plans” to amend the timeframe of the SCFS or to extend the locations covered by the scheme.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) said that by January 19, 97% or 268 of the 277 applications submitted for the scheme had been returned, processed and received €736,398 on a total of 2,266ha.
IFA Ulster/North Leinster Regional chair Frank Brady visited the Shannon Callows in recent days, along with IFA South Leinster Regional chair Paul O’Brien.
Brady told Agriland that due to the winter being so prolonged and wet farmers in the area are struggling to get their cattle fed at this stage as fields are saturated.
“We’re asking them to pay out where there was a genuine mistake made here. We’re not asking for anything different. We’re not asking for anymore money.
“We’re asking that the people get the money that they’re entitled to. There’s nobody here trying to hoodwink anybody. There’s no new members trying to come in.
“We’re just trying to make sure that those people who are bona fide damaged by what has happened deserve to get it. That’s all we’re looking for,” he said.
In the longer term, Brady said that clearing of rivers will have to be discussed as “perfectly good land” is currently being flooded.