29 Ean 2015, 09:59
Managing market volatility in the dairy industry, ensuring adequate finance for farmers for the banking system and the forging a common approach for animal health were some of the items discussed by an Oireachtas Agriculture Committee delegation in Belfast Tuesday 27 January.
29 January 2015
The delegation was meeting with the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development at the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Committee also enjoyed a fruitful meeting with Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development Michelle O’Neill MLA.
Led by Committee Chairman Andrew Doyle TD, the delegation comprised of Deputies Tom Barry TD, Pat Deering TD, Éamon Ó Cuív TD and Thomas Pringle as well as Senators Michael Comaskey and Paschal Mooney.
Deputy Doyle says: “On behalf of the delegation, I wish to thank our counterparts in Belfast and Minister O’Neill for the warm welcome and constructive engagement on a range of areas of mutual interest. Top of the agenda was the issue of dairy price volatility and we shared concerns at the weakened demand for milk over the last two years. Though EU quotas have had less of an impact on Northern Ireland farmers, we considered some of the opportunities and challenges posed for farmers south of the border when milk quotas end in April.
“The meetings covered a range of practical areas of cooperation, not least the safeguarding of our island’s green, clean credentials in producing produce that is among the finest in the world. There was broad consensus that family-orientated models of farming have to be fostered into the future and that any encroachment of factory style farming on the island would be strongly resisted. The Committees also explored the possibility of establishing closer collaboration in animal health and welfare matters. We shared experiences on the uneven relationships in the grocery goods sector, especially between producer, processor, and retailers and agreed with that it was imperative to ensure greater transparency in the supply chain.”
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