Co-op sues Minister for Agriculture over €12m EU aid claim

A mushroom producers co-operative has sued the Minister for Agriculture claiming it has suffered more than €12m losses due to alleged unlawful withholding of EU financial aid.

Commercial Mushroom Producers Co-operative Society Ltd (CMP) claims the Department of Agriculture has limited the amount of aid available to CMP on the basis of expenditure caps which, it claims, have been unlawfully applied.

CMP chief executive Donal McCarthy also said that the Department had unlawfully refused EU financial aid in relation to expenditure actually incurred within budget.