Minister Must Deliver On Suckler Scheme - IFA
IRELAND - During a European fact-finding mission recently at McDonnell’s farm in Harristown, Ardee, were MEP Mairead McGuinness with Colm McDonnell, Chair of the National Grain Committee, Nial Parish, Chair European Rural Agricultural Committee and, in the back, Seamus Lamb, Louth IFA.
3 May 2007
2 minute read
IFA National Livestock Committee Chairman John Bryan has said the Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan must deliver fully on the e80 Suckler Cow Animal Welfare and Quality scheme.
John Bryan said the successful delivery of the e80 Suckler Cow scheme over the next number of weeks is top of the agenda with the country’s 100,000 livestock farms. He said Minister Coughlan and the Government must also make it a priority for delivery.
The IFA livestock leader said the Minister has already successfully secured e250 million national funding for the scheme. “Minister Coughlan must now pull out all the stops in Brussels, including meeting Commissioner Fischer Boel, to get clearance for the scheme within the next month.”
He said there was a real expectation among suckler farmers throughout the country that the Minister will make a positive announcement on this scheme within the next three to four weeks.
John Bryan said the new Suckler Cow Welfare and Quality Scheme was a major initiative in adopting higher standards and placing the Irish beef herd at the top of the EU league in terms of welfare and quality standards.
In addition, he said the scheme would be a major benefit to the important live export trade, which is essential for cattle price competition. The new scheme will also help secure the important suckler herd in the rural economy and at the centre of our e2 billion beef and livestock sector.
