5th June, 2013

President of the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association, Gabriel Gilmartin, has welcomed the appointment of Tom Hayes TD as Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and has called for his deployment to deal with the ongoing fall-out from the fodder crisis.

Mr Gilmartin said, “ICSA wants a task force set up, which could be chaired by Minister Hayes, to deal with fodder-related issues including cash flow problems on farms, securing enough feed for next winter and managing the damage done to land, as well as dealing with mental health issues in the farming community.”