14 Ean 2015, 11:51
Representatives from the Irish Dairy Board will be appearing before the Oireachtas Joint Committee Agriculture, Food and the Marine tomorrow consider potential difficulties and price volatility facing the dairy industry in the coming year.
14 January 2015
IDB Chairman Aaron Forde, Secretary Anne Randles and Director Bernard Condon will address the Committee. The dairy co-operative exports about €2billion worth of Irish produce to over 100 countries worldwide.
Committee Chairman Andrew Doyle TD: “With EU quotas being abolished in April, it is timely that our Committee assess the outlook for the dairy industry in the coming year. The ending of the quota regime presents substantial new opportunities for dairy farmers and processors, particular if they manage expansion in a responsible manner. 2013 and 2014 have seen considerable price volatility in the dairy industry, with global prices rising in 2013 as a result of weather events, to be followed by sharp declines in recent months as a result of weakening demand. In what is a critical year for Irish farm families involved in dairy, the Committee looks forward to assessing the short and long term prospects for the sector with the Irish Dairy Board at tomorrow’s meeting.”
The Committee will also scrutinise the following non-priority EU legislative proposals:
- COM(2014)593, which relates to suspending concessions of agricultural products originating in Turkey;
- CCOM(2014)628 and COM(2014)629,which amend the list of non-cooperating third countries in relation to overfishing, and
- COM(2014)682, COM(2014)683 and COM(2014)684, which relate to the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Madagascar.
The meeting takes place tomorrow Thursday 15 January in Committee Room 1, LH 2000 at 10 am. The meeting will commence in private session with scrutiny of EU proposals. The outcomes of these discussions will be outlined in public session. Public proceedings can be viewed online here.
Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the move, through the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.
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
paul.hand@oireachtas.ie