Independent TD Mattie McGrath has reacted angrily to the failure of the Taoiseach to properly address the true nature of the fodder crisis which is gripping the farming community. Speaking after Leader’s Questions today, Deputy McGrath said that the Taoiseach’s evasions and half-hearted acknowledgement of the scale of the crisis will further deflate already exasperated farmers.

“That the Taoiseach could not even bring himself to use the word crisis in relation to the fodder shortage is a body blow to farmers. Instead of a pro-active and vigorous determination to do all that he can, the Taoiseach instead chose to play down the urgency of this matter, a matter which is devastating farms in ways not seen in a generation.”

The IFA, ICMSA, and ICSA have all called for an urgent Government response to the lack of available fodder due to in part to the prolonged period of wet and cold weather. The on-going harsh weather has forced the fodder shortage to a crisis point on many livestock farms. In a lot of cases, concentrates are being fed to supplement or replace the missing forage.

“The cost of the fodder crisis is now estimated to have topped €200 million with many farming families sinking into further debt that they can ill afford. Yet the response of this Government has been to resist the pleas for the establishment of a meagre €10 million emergency relief fund to combat this crisis. The stories that I have heard coming back from farmers have been horrendous. Because of the lack of fodder the animals can scarcely be given away. It is a horrendous scenario,” Deputy McGrath said.

Although the main banks have publicly stated that they will engage positively with any farmer who finds themselves in financial difficulty trying to feed their livestock, The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association has said this is not the reality on the ground. Many farmers have reported the refusal of credit despite the call of Minister Simon Coveney for the banks to engage more constructively on this matter.

“The banks have only been good at one thing in the last number of years and that is generating one crisis after another. They have little experience in helping to alleviate them. Yet this Government somehow wants us to believe that now they will rush to the rescue of embattled farmers. It is a sick joke being played at the expense of farmers and their animals that are suffering and dying the length and breadth of the country,” Deputy McGrath observed.

“My only hope is that he stops his dithering while the farming community is left to burn from the exhaustion in trying to stem the tide of this crisis on their own,” concluded Deputy McGrath.