Minister told to ‘do the right thing'
Minister for agriculture Charlie McConalogue
ICSA president Sean McNamara has called on agriculture minister McConalogue to stop the decimation of vital farming sectors and preserve the fabric of rural Ireland by delivering for low-income beef, sheep, and suckler farmers in the government’s upcoming Budget.
“Farmers in these sectors are counting on this budget to provide the additional support needed to remain viable and for future generations to even consider continuing in their footsteps,” he said.
Mr McNamara was speaking following a meeting with minister McConalogue and senior Department of Agriculture officials in Dublin last Wednesday.
He said: “Today, we gave the minister an opportunity to do the right thing by cattle and sheep farmers. The numbers are stark in terms of incomes in these sectors, and in terms of the numbers choosing to exit due to lack of economic viability.
“If these sectors are not supported, the consequence will be a further shift towards dairy farming. This will include suckler farms converting to dairying and supporting the expansion of existing dairy herds through contract rearing or land leasing. Both scenarios will inevitably lead to greater intensification, which will exert additional pressure on climate and water quality.”
Outlining the ICSA’s key demands for Budget 2025, Mr McNamara stated that the current National Beef and Sheep Welfare schemes fail to provide adequate financial benefits to participants. “The scheme does not provide sufficient farm income support for suckler farms. We believe it was badly designed and needs to be restructured so that the suckler sector can benefit properly from this scheme. For Budget 2025, we recommend increasing the funding to deliver €300 per cow when combined with the SCEP.” For sheep, ICSA has proposed increasing payments to the sector, with a view to delivering a total possible payment of €35 per ewe when combined with the Sheep Improvement Scheme. This to include €7 a head per completed action in the Sheep Welfare Scheme, with dipping becoming a standalone optional add-on with a payment rate of €9 a head due to the increased prevalence of sheep scab.
