Coughlan asked to explain beet compensation deal

Agriculture Minister Mary Coughlan was tonight asked to attend the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food to explain her reasons for awarding Greencore €98m in the restructuring of the sugar industry.

Denis Naughten, Fine Gael agriculture spokesman, said he had requested the minister to come to Wednesday’s hearing to establish the details behind the settlement.

“It is imperative that the minister attends this forum to provide a full and frank explanation as to her reasoning behind this decision,” the Longford-Roscommon TD said.

“If it is the case as she claims that she has the financial and legal basis for this decision then she should have no difficulty in providing the detail behind her decision to the members of the committee on Wednesday next.”

Ms Coughlan was facing a second day of criticisms over the EU restructuring fund despite claiming farmers were getting €214m out of the total €312m.

Padraig Walshe, president of the Irish Farmers’ Association, said he would be seeking an urgent meeting with Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to discuss the implications of the restructuring plan.

Mr Naughten said he wanted an explanation from the minister as to why a public company, whose share price has increased significantly since the industry closure was announced and which has an extremely valuable land bank, is set to receive the lion’s share of the available compensation.

He accused the minister of turning against farmers on three separate occasions.

“The minister’s decision yesterday is the third time, in 18 months, that she has turned her back on Irish beet growers,” he said.

She failed to lift her hand to delay the closure of the Carlow sugar plant. She failed to retain an additional two years processing of the beet crop as part of the sugar negotiations,” he said.

“And now, she has failed to secure a fair deal in the distribution of compensation.

“How can this Government be trusted to put Irish farmers before that of big business or to develop an alternative for farmers when they have shown scant regard for growers to date?”