As a former Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, I am sure the Tánaiste will understand very well the fodder crisis scheme the current Minister has announced. There is a shortage of grass and grass-based fodder in the country but the Minister, instead of introducing a meal voucher scheme, which would be grain-based, would operate at a world price and be easily transported, has instead decided to give a transport subsidy for grass-based fodder, an already scarce resource. This move will only increase the price of fodder. On the one hand, it is a very skimpy and counterproductive policy proposal and on the other, it is an expensive public relations move on the part of the Minister because it will not be effective. What is the Tánaiste's view? Will he engage with the Minister? Will the Government change tack and introduce a meal voucher scheme? This would address the problem, which is particularly acute in a small number of areas but acute nonetheless.

I will talk to the Minister about that if that would be helpful and ask him to contact the Deputy directly about the matter. However, the concept here is to recognise that we have enough silage and other grass-based fodder in the country to deal with shortages but that there is a cost to transport it to those parts of the country that need it. This is why we have focused on trying to address that cost through a transport subsidy scheme to ensure we can get the fodder that is needed to farms in parts of the country that, for weather-related reasons primarily, have fodder shortages and that we subsidise the cost of getting the fodder to where it is needed most. That has been the focus of the Minister, Deputy Creed, and it makes sense, but I will ask him to come back to the Deputy on the meal voucher issue he has raised.