9 Feb 2015, 16:35
Representatives from the Banking and Payments Federation, AIB, the Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank will appear before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine tomorrow as it continues its series of hearings on price volatility facing the dairy industry in the coming year.
9 February 2015
With EU quotas being abolished in April, the meeting will also consider prospects for industry expansion in the medium to longer terms.
Committee Chairman Andrew Doyle TD says: “The third in our series of meetings on dairy price volatility, tomorrow’s engagement with representatives from the banking sector will provide a valuable opportunity to consider the financial challenges facing the sector in 2015. We have heard from key stakeholders that, despite weak prices in the short term, Ireland’s grass fed dairy sector enjoys significant competitive advantages to gain in the longer term.
“The opportunities for sustainable expansion of the sector, based on profit margin rather than volume, will be central to discussions. Global dairy prices are likely to remain weak throughout 2015, so we will wish to ensure the banking sector are partnering with Ireland’s dairy farmers in a practical manner to ensure the longer term strategic potential of the industry can be realised.”
“The Committee notes with concern the examples of New Zealand, Australia and Northern Ireland cited at last week's meeting, where a significant number of farms have run into financial difficulties as a result of rapid expansion. As a consequence, Committee Members have been urging caution to those farmers in Ireland contemplating expansion. We look forward to raising these concerns when representatives from the main banks appear before us tomorrow.”
This meeting takes place at 2 pm on Tuesday 10 February in Committee Room 3, LH 2000.
Committee proceedings can be followed live here.
View Committee Membership.
Media enquiries to:
Paul Hand,
Communications Unit,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 4484
M: +353 87 694 9926
E: paul.hand@oireachtas.ie