The farm organisations have reacted angrily to a statement by the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, that it is too early for his Department to support them because of losses caused by the bad weather.
Yesterday the Minister said his Department was monitoring the current situation and he had asked Teagasc to report to him.
The Agriculture and Food Development Authority had said progress had been made in the past few weeks. In addition, the Farm Assist Scheme had been amended to allow farmers claim on this year's income levels rather than on last year's higher figures.
"The Department will be keeping a close eye on the difficult situation that is ongoing, and I have met with farm leaders over the past few weeks," the Minister said.
Last night Mr John Dillon, the president of the Irish Farmers' Association, claimed farmers were under huge financial stress and pressure because of the weather and the Government was doing little to help. He demanded an urgent meeting with Mr Walsh who, he said, must take immediate action to restore beef and milk prices and bring forward EU direct payments to farmers to cope with current conditions.
Bad weather, he said, had already cost Irish farmers €125 million on silage losses. Tillage yields were severely hit and likely to be half a million tonnes down on last year. Vegetable- and fruit-growers were likely to suffer 50 per cent losses of yield and income.
Fine Gael's agriculture spokesman, Mr Billy Timmins, said Mr Walsh must bring a targeted plan to assist the agricultural industry.