Milk group to meet committee
Led by chairman Donie Shine from Mallow, Co Cork, the delegation will stress the plight of small dairy farmers.
In the West, 30 out of every 33 farmers said in a recent survey they plan to quit dairy farming over the next two years.
This highlighted the continuing mistreatment of small farmers, he said. They have been been pushed aside and forgotten about, he added.
The Milk Rights Group includes IFA and ICMSA members and according to Mr Shine is not working in opposition to either of the main farm lobbies. His concern is that small farmers lost out badly under the farm plan set out over 20 years ago to build up the Irish diary sector.
A major current gripe is that under decoupling they will not be allowed to claim compensation on milk allocated to them two years ago to make up for their mistreatment when the original plan was initiated.
According to Mr Shine if this is not corrected small farmers might as well quit.
"We are looking at the decline of rural Ireland and unless something is done in 10 years time we will not even need a Minister for Agriculture", he said.
Something had to be done to address these issues that affect not just farmers but the social fabric of rural Ireland, he said.
