Farmers demand fair play in pay deal
Jackie Cahill, president, said he had also outlined the association’s position to Dermot McCarthy, secretary general at the Department of the Taoiseach, who is chairing the social partnership talks.
Negotiations on the agricultural elements of the process are to continue into the weekend.
Mr Cahill said a workable clause will be required to allow dairy processing to “opt out” of the pay increase if a fair agreement is to be secured.
Mr Cahill said the average dairy sector employee earns a basic salary of over €36,000, while the average dairy farmer will be on an income of €30,000.
The proposed pay deal would widen that gap to almost €10,000. No reasonable observer would consider fair, he said.
Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) president Padraig Walshe said the Government proposals are woefully inadequate.
He said Irish wage and income levels meant they would receive less money from Europe, while farmers’ incomes had fallen far behind the non-farm economy.
He said he expected the Government to increase rural development payments to maintain their real value.
“The IFA’s request for a 25% increase was modest and reasonable when compared with the national wage agreement which only covers 27 months, while the rural development payments would be set for seven years until 2013,” he said.
