Pressure grows on commission to boost support for Irish dairy sector

PRESSURE on the European Commission to increase its level of support measures to help Irish dairy farmers intensified yesterday.

Brian Crowley, president of the UEN group in the European Parliament, said the reality of the situation is that there has been a dramatic fall in milk prices because of falling global demands.

“Irish dairy farmers need the European Commission to increase the level of export refunds available to our farmers, as well as providing more intervention capacity to arrest the fall in milk prices and to ensure that dairy farmers secure viable and competitive prices for their milk products,” he said.

The Fianna Fáil MEP for Munster said the dairy sector is of critical importance to the Irish economy and is worth e2.5 billion in exports.

Over 20,000 dairy farmers and a further 30,000 jobs depend on it.

He welcomed the fact that Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith travelled to Brussels to meet with Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel to discuss the need for urgent EU action.

Meanwhile, the Munster Fine Gael MEP Colm Burke said farm families are not in a position to survive the price fluctuations seen in the dairy industry in the last 18 months.

“A collapse in milk prices from a high of 39 cents a litre to a possible low of 19 cents a litre is going to force many farm families out of dairy production and could also lead to casualties in the processing sector,” he said.

He called on the commission to use the market support measures available to ensure a price above the production cost for dairy farmers.

He also said it was important that “all public policy instruments are geared to ensuring a ruthlessly efficient production and processing sector here.”