Government, Greencore and sugar growers urged to unite
SIPTU branch secretary at Mallow sugar factory Liam Lucey made the plea as decision time approaches for the key stakeholders on whether there will be a beet growing and sugar processing campaign in Ireland next season. Mr Lucey called on all parties to come around the table in an effort to safeguard the industry.
“The industry can be saved but it has to be reshaped. All we are hearing, however, is talk about compensation,” he said.
Mr Lucey said the sugar industry has served the country well for 80 years and can continue doing so into the future. “We will not be serving the industry well by giving up and handing it over to Europe. The ultimate winners will be big sugar barons in Brazil.”
Mr Lucey’s appeal came as the Irish Farmers Association came out against reports that Greencore could reap the majority of the European Union compensation to close down the industry.
Padraig Walshe, president, said this is a political decision in the hands of Agriculture and Food Minister Mary Coughlan. “She must immediately put a stop to this speculation by granting the compensation to beet growers where it rightly belonged,” he said.
Midland Beet Growers Association members in Laois, Offaly, Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny and Tipperary have already decided to opt out of the industry on the basis that it would be uneconomic for them to grow beet and haul it to Mallow for processing at the price on offer. However, growers nearer to the Mallow plant, whose transport costs would be lower, are understood to be anxious to grow beet again next season provided price and other issues are resolved.
Meanwhile, discussions at working group level are continuing in Brussels on the legal text for the reform of the EU sugar regime. The final text will be presented to next month’s meeting of the EU council of agricultural ministers.
Some reports suggest that the text as currently drafted could dramatically reduce the chances of a beet crop in Ireland this year.
