Quota and price cuts could threaten 500 sugar jobs

IRISH beet growers were paid €11.7m for the crop harvested last winter.

But quota and price cuts could slash that payout to €6.5m, according to leaked details of Brussels proposals to reform the EU sugar regime.

The Brussels proposals are a major worry for almost 500 people employed at Carlow and Mallow, and the resultant damage to Ireland’s sugar industry also threatens about 25,000 jobs in downstream and supply industries.