Smith to speak with EU over support for struggling sheep sector

THE European Union will be told by Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Minister Brendan Smith at a special conference in Limoges, France, today that it must give direct financial support to the troubled sheep sector.

“We see the opportunity for the EU to give support to strengthen the sector to enable it to deal with the many challenges out there and to grow and be put on a steady footing,” he said.

The conference, which has been convened by France, will be attended by industry representatives, farming organisations and ministers from the relevant member states with a particular interest in the sheep sector.

EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel would also attend the conference, which Mr Smith said is a follow on from Ireland placing the sheep issue on the agenda at the Council of Agricultural Ministers as far back as last March. His predecessor Mary Coughlan put it down as a specific item.

“We very much welcome the fact that the French have taken the initiative in having this special conference. We see sheep as a crucial and important sector, albeit a relatively small one.

“We see it as a sector that needs assistance. We see it as a sector that is facing particular difficulties. But it is a sector that is of extreme importance within the agricultural industry and particularly in many disadvantaged areas as well,” he said.

Mr Smith, who was speaking with reporters in Dublin, said apart from the conference he would also be having a bilateral meeting with the French minister on the sheep sector.

Meanwhile, IFA president Pádraig Walshe said Mr Smith is acutely aware of the importance of the sheep sector and the need for urgent action and delivery to halt the decline in sheep farming.

Mr Walshe, who met with the minister, said this was a critical time for sheep farmers and there was a major expectation at producer level that urgent action would be taken at EU level.

In addition, the Government must deliver in full on the payout of the €28 million REPS mixed grazing package and the re-opening of the grant aid package for handling facilities and fencing.