Nov 26th, 2009

ICMSA say Community Officer model should be used to deliver aid directly to flooded farmers

The President of ICMSA, Jackie Cahill, said that while he welcomed the funding being made available for farmers affected by the flooding, there needed to be more urgency about the delivery of aid to the farmers concerned. He complimented the work of Teagasc in their direct help to farmers and their efforts at co-ordination but he said that speed of response was now the top priority and he called for a system similar to that operated by the HSE Community Officers, where decision-making was instantaneous and aid delivered quickly. ICMSA estimates that there are up to 500 farmers who have acute and severe problems with partial and complete flooding of their farmyards. Mr Cahill said that Galway had suffered disproportionately with half the worst cases located in the Gort-Athenry region with the next most affected areas being Longford and Westmeath. Farms in Clare, Cavan and Longford were also severely hit.

Mr Cahill said there was no need to re-invent the wheel in the provision of direct aid on a speedy and fair basis. He said that the HSE Community Officer model advised by Teagasc and the Department of Agriculture was the most suitable system to adopt. In addition to these 500 farmers, the flooding has tipped what was already a severe fodder scarcity into a full-blown fodder crisis and the Government should support a fodder voucher scheme which would aid farmers experiencing a critical shortage of fodder. ICMSA has already had preliminary discussions with the Irish Grain and Feed Association on this matter and were in contact with Minister Gormley on the question of animal housing and winter storage. The Minister was actively considering ICMSA's proposals and the farm organisation was hopeful of a positive response.

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