Empty supermarket shelves 'will become the new norm' if action not taken

"Fairness must be returned to what is currently a fundamentally unfair food supply chain."

"The importance of underpinning our domestic horticulture producers has never been so important, following recent shortages of certain products and the increasing emphasis on food security," IFA president Tim Cullinan said. 

Ireland's largest farming organisation has warned that if action is not taken to support the horticulture sector, empty supermarket shelves "will become the new norm".

"Better supports are needed" for Irish vegetable growers in order "to avoid any more from exiting the sector and leaving the country even more dependent on imports", Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) president Tim Cullinan told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine this week.