The leader of one of the farm organisations has called on the new Financial Regulator to urgently address the credit crisis in farming and small and medium enterprises.
ICMSA President Jackie Cahill said there cannot be any more delay while the full establishment of the Financial Regulator's team is awaited.
Mr Cahill said that for over a year now the ICMSA has made proposals to the Financial Regulator and the Minister for Finance on the need for action to address the credit problem in farming.
However, he said, nothing has been done.
He said that there were three major issues that required immediate attention - the availability of essential and seasonal working capital for farmers; the outlawing of excessive and unjustified hikes in interest rates being charged by banks; and the need for restructuring of existing borrowings over a longer period of time.
Mr Cahill said that farming, because of the security which banks hold on farm land in Ireland, is a low risk sector yet it is being penalised and this is causing a danger to the survival and recovery of the sector.
