Green Party senator Malcolm Noonan has called for emergency funding to be made available for the horticulture sector in the aftermath of Storm Éowyn.
The newly elected senator for the agricultural panel in the Seanad said that right across the country growers had lost polytunnels and other facilities at a crucial time of the year when many would be planting at the start of the growing season.
“These growers are important to our food security and to local economies as many supply local markets across the country,” senator Noonan said.
He also raised the widening of representation on the windblow task force with Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) with special responsibility for forestry, farm safety and horticulture, Michael Healy-Rae.
Noonan stated that it needs to include “local voices, community representation and landowners to aid the work of the taskforce in building greater resilience against future extreme weather events”.
Horticulture
He also added that he was “hopeful that either existing business support schemes or a dedicated fund for growers could be made available” to the horticulture sector to enable growers to repair and replace equipment damaged in the storm.
“Unfortunately our predicted future of extreme weather events has arrived and we need to fast track adaptation measures to minimise impact on vulnerable communities, infrastructure and in farming,” he said.
The windblow task force was set up by minsters at the DAFM in response to the impact of the record-breaking winds of Storm Éowyn.
According to DAFM, the taskforce “will inform the department’s and the wider sector’s response” to recent storms and will also focus on dealing safely with the large areas of forest that have been blown down.
The taskforce is set to include a plan around the prioritisation of felling licences in respect of storm damage, and to examine issues that may arise in relation to the harvesting, haulage, and sawmilling of the blown trees.