I am calling on the Government to directly intervene and to take immediate steps to release funding to assist strained farmers who have seen their fodder stocks ravaged to alarming low levels as a result of the relentless, prolonged poor weather conditions. We are in the midst of an unprecedented crisis in Irish farming and farmers are in dire need of some assistance or relief.

We have a severe problem at present with a shortage of feed at the end of a long winter. Irish farmers are braced in a fodder crisis of alarming proportions. There is no hay or silage available and farmers cannot get money from banks to allow them to purchase meal. Farmers are concerned for their future, their families and for their stock. I am meeting farmers on a daily basis who are demoralised, distressed and in desperation. Farmers who have built up their business and have strived for a long number of years now face the heart-breaking reality of animals starving. Farmers are severely stressed and in an acute sense of anxiety.

It is my belief that the Government can no longer continue to ignore the reality of farmers under pressure and animals starving. To date we have seen alarming inaction and reluctance by the Government to engage with this issue. It seems that the growing crisis in rural Ireland has simply been ignored to date. I believe that the Government and Minister Coveney must act now to provide financial assistance to help farmers who have been brought to their knees. No further delay can be tolerated. Emergency funds must be made freely available to anybody who is under severe pressure due to fodder and cash flow difficulties. Without this we will literally see animals starving and stock destroyed.

I believe that the farm assist cuts imposed as part of Budget 2013 have heaped further hardship, pain and suffering on distressed farmers at a hugely challenging time.

The abolishment of income and child disregards for the purposes of child assist will result in farmers losing up to 20% of their payment. As of the first of month farmers will have seen a mammoth reduction in the monies paid to them.

Due to the adverse weather conditions both this year and last farm income has been decimated and countless Tipperary farmers brought to their knees. The imposition of cuts to farm assist which came into effect on the first of this month could not have come at a more challenging, negative and difficult time for Irish farmers. Farmers can scantly afford to feed their stock and these cuts will further undermine the ability of low income farmers to survive. Many now face the very real situation of struggling to put food on the table.

Farmers are in a dire situation and Minister Burton is ignoring their distress. To add salt to the wounds she has refused to meet with farming interest groups despite numerous requests.

I believe that the changes introduced to the eligibility criteria for medical cards will have a hugely negative impact on those on lower incomes and I am calling on the HSE and Minister for Health, James Reilly T.D, to immediate reverse these unfair and unreasonable adjustments. I have received confirmation from the HSE that they have amended the eligibility criteria for medical cards by removing Home Improvement Loan payments and excluding the first €50 per week from Travel-to-Work expenses from the standard medical card means test assessment from April 2013 onwards.

The stealthy and underhand introduction of these changes will result in many families and individuals no longer being eligible for their medical card, a move will have a devastating impact on lower income families and will cut to the quick. Those on the border line now face the very real and distressing prospect of losing their essential and much treasured medical card. In these difficult times a medical card is a vital commodity for any individual on a lower income and is something that is hugely valued. Changing eligibility in this way will lead to families simply not being able to pay to attend a doctor when seriously ill or not being able to pay for vital drugs and will have a hugely negative impact on their quality of life.

It is my belief that it is totally artificial and unreasonable to make a distinction between mortgage repayments and home improvement loan repayments. It is illogical to include one and exclude another in assessment. It is a contrived differentiation specifically designed to remove people’s eligibility. Furthermore it is hugely unfair to remove the weekly amount of €50 allowed to cover standing charges used when considering travel to work costs as an outgoing where public transport is not available or suitable and a car is required.

It is my belief that the reduced unemployment figures fail to reflect the mass exodus of the unemployed from our shores. Whilst unemployment figures have dropped slightly in the past month the reality is that thousands upon thousands of our citizens are being forced to emigrate.

The most recent unemployment figures are not an accurate representation of life in Ireland and the realities of those who are out of work. The truth of the matter is that day after day our airports are full of young people leaving in search of work. Many are facing destitution and despair due to lack of employment and are making the hugely difficult decision to flee the country in search of a better life abroad. We see highly skilled graduates, entire families, those burdened with debts or a mortgage that they cannot repay with no options here and no choice but to go. An unthinkable number have left. The unemployment figure has only dropped here as the floodgates out of the country are wide open.

Every parish throughout Tipperary has felt this loss. Families are divided and left devastated. An entire generation of people are being lost and in turn we as a country are losing a colossal amount of knowledge, skills and training.

Government policy to date has failed drastically in impacting any meaningful change or improvement to the prospects of those who are unemployed. We have seen countless launches of jobs initiatives and plenty of PR opportunities but no actual change. We need to establish conditions that enable employers not only to sustain the jobs already in existence but to encourage growth and the creation of new jobs.

I am calling on the Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D, to give a firm and unequivocal guarantee that no steps will be taken by this Government to close small schools and no further measures will be imposed to make the position of these schools untenable. The publication of a leaked ‘Value for Money’ report due to be published by the Department of Education and Skills casts a shadow on the position of schools with less than 4 teachers and 80 pupils, going forwards.

Across Tipperary and indeed the country, the presence of small schools is a prevalent feature. Nationally there are 1,064 schools with less than 80 pupils. Many of these schools and indeed the parents, teachers, pupils and wider communities now fear for their existence in the wake of the leaks that have emerged.

Smaller schools rightfully hold a treasured place in the hearts and minds of all of those who live in rural areas. They bring people together and provide a focal point in a local community. They allow children, who are frequently live in remote areas, to be educated close to home, surrounded by friends and neighbours. It spares parents the cost and inconvenience of travelling, what may be a significant distance, to a larger school in the next town or village. Furthermore it brings people and subsequently business to the village or town thereby assisting all in the locality.

Any move to close these small schools would rip the heart out of rural Ireland and decimate our rural communities. Rural schools are the lifeblood of rural communities and guarantee the sustainability of our very towns and villages. Small schools are an integral part of the fabric rural life and a vital resource for communities.

This Government has repeatedly attacked and shown a complete disregard and lack of understanding for the rural way of life. For rural communities that have already witnessed a multitude of cutbacks with the loss of courthouses, Garda Stations, our Garda Training College, Garda personnel and beds in our hospitals, any move which attacks our schools would be the last straw and I can assure the Minister would be met with a landslide of opposition. This Government have already enforced measures that impact on our rural schools and undermine their very viability. Due to the changes in staffing schedules for smaller schools advanced by this Government, a number of teaching posts in Tipperary have been lost and as a result many of our children are now being educated in very large classes.

I am sending a clear message to Minister Quinn-Enough is enough. Our schools have been dealt a thousand blows and are being squeezed from all sides. Rural Ireland will not stand idly by if they are attacked further. Minister Quinn should be cognisant of this fact and must steadfastly protect the position of rural schools. To date he has simply said that no decision has been made on the report in question. I am calling on him to immediately clarify this issue and to give a vow that he will not act upon this, or any report, to the detriment or small schools and all rural communities.