Commission official to meet with milk producers and processors

A SENIOR official from the European Commission will visit Ireland next week to discuss the troubled milk sector with producers and processors.

The Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS), the co-ops umbrella body, has invited Thorkild Rasmussen, head of the milk policy division, to a series of meetings on March 11 and 12.

ICOS director general John Tyrrell said Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith is aware of the need for further strong action by the commission to utilise the market instruments available to support the dairy market and has taken up the issue with Commissioner Fischer Boel and with other EU ministers.

“It is crucial the commission uses its powers to give the dairy market vital support through its operation of the intervention, export refunds and other measures,” he said.

Mr Tyrrell said ICOS has invited dairy producers and processors to avail of the opportunity to meet with Mr Rasmussen to show him the effect of the recent dramatic fall in dairy markets in Ireland.

They will also outline the measures that need to be taken by the commission to support the market in these exceptional circumstances, he said.

ICOS has arranged for Mr Rasmussen to meet a number of players within the dairy sector, beginning with the delegation which was mandated by a recent industry meeting, and later with senior dairy executives. He will also meet with the ICOS dairy committee.

Meanwhile, Ireland East MEP Mairead McGuinness said she is concerned the European Commission may be overcautious in how it is dealing with the drop in milk prices.

“Dairy farmers in Ireland cannot survive on the very low milk prices being paid. The pressures on farming are intensified by the credit crunch and must be taken into account,” she said.

Ms McGuinness has written to Commissioner Fischer Boel spelling out the seriousness of the situation and calling for more immediate action.