Pork compo delay ‘to be resolved’

A €150 MILLION compensation logjam for the depressed pig meat industry will be resolved within eight weeks, the Department of Agriculture has promised.

The fund had slowed to a trickle after €35m was released in an initial flurry. This was committed to after the discovery of dioxins caused the recall of all pork products and shut down the pigmeat industry last year.

Industry spokesmen said the failure to fast-track the remainder of the fund has caused a cashflow crisis. This first hit larger processors and consequently stifled the incomes of farmers and feed producers.

The department last night said it expects to pay €200m, with €180m going to the processors. The remainder will be mainly paid to farmers. “Final payments will only be made when all product concerned has been rendered. Application forms for final payment are being issued this week. Anticipate that payments will continue to be made until mid-end May,” the department said.

The department said it still expects the final bill to be “around €200m”.

Cormac Healy, of Meat Industry Ireland, said processors expect the scale of losses to grossly exceed the €200m estimate. However, he said the industry would be able to move on if its cash issues were resolved.

Tim Cullinane, of the Irish Farmers’ Association pig meat committee, said the lack of money at the top of the production ladder had effects all the way down.

He said farmers were not getting paid promptly and, in turn, were not able keep on top of what was due to feed suppliers.