Farmers and Minister in war of words over farm income figures
Each side is accusing the other of distorting income figures for farmers, which is one of the main issues of the current dispute.
The IFA says the average farm income has fallen to less than €15,000 a year compared to the average industrial wage of €26,000.
Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh, however, says this includes part-time farmers and insists the real figure is €31,000, out of which just €1,000 is paid in tax. This compares to a tax take of €7,000 for those on the average industrial wage.
All sides say they are basing their figures on information supplied by the Central Statistics Office and Teagasc.
The IFA also says the national farm income has fallen by 26% over the last seven years and resulted in the flight of 20,000 farmers from the land.
IFA chief John Dillon said: "We are surrounded by ever-increasing costs and bureaucracy In the past 10 years, more than 20,000 farmers have been forced to get a job off the land to provide a viable livelihood for their families."
But the Department of Agriculture says while real incomes dropped by almost 9% last year, this was on the back of an increase of almost 40% for 2000 to 2001.
Another key element of the IFA protest is their claim that the Government has taken more than €200m from farmers through disease eradication levies and other supports. A spokesman for Mr Walsh, however, said the levies cost between €10m and €20m, compared to the total cost of disease eradication to the taxpayers which weighs in at 216m.
Mr Walsh said the Government also supported the farming industries through crises such as the outbreak of foot and mouth and the spread BSE.
"The immediate operation of the purchase for destruction market support scheme, which cost in the region of €300m, to support the beef sector and producer prices during the BSE crisis, shows the commitment of the Government to agriculture," a spokesperson for the minister said.
However, farmers say their long-term future is under threat as subsidies are to be watered down because the Government failed to lobby effectively on their behalf.
The Government, however, says subsidies which amount to 70% of the average farmer's income are safe until 2012 after fierce lobbying at the World Trade Organisation talks.
