Sinn Féin agri proposals are ‘alarming’ – Creed

Minister claims opposition party ‘infiltrated’ last year’s beef protests

SINN FÉIN’S plans for the farming sector are “alarming”, the Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has claimed.

Speaking to the Farming Independent he said: “I haven’t seen anything coming from Sinn Féin in terms of constructive suggestions as to how to resolve the beef price issue. If you read the Sinn Féin election manifesto it is quite alarming.

“It says intensive farming systems are not in Ireland’s best interests so extrapolate from that pig/poultry/intensive dairy what’s the vision for Sinn Féin in rural Ireland in terms of agriculture?

“Look back at the beef crisis … it’s a fact that these crises were infiltrated by Sinn Fein,” claimed Minister Creed.

“The strikes were sustained by them when it was abundantly clear to everybody that it was in the best interest of the industry not to sustain the strikes, (but) they managed to stoke that anger, to infiltrate those organisations and I think that was a disservice to agriculture.”

Processors

However, Sinn Féin agriculture spokesman Brian Stanley says the party is committed to placing the family farm model at the heart of future agriculture.

“We need a long-term strategy that provides greater control to local producers and away from the big processors,” he writes in today’s Independent.

“We need to tackle the pricing models in the beef sector. We need to reform CAP to ensure more equitable funding, and we need to create new income streams for farmers in areas such as renewable energy.”

Sinn Féin would establish a commission on the future of the family farm based upon ensuring a fair price for producers, greater bargaining power and access to new income streams.

The party, he said, would prohibit below-cost selling and investigate alleged cartel-like behaviour in the processing sector.

Farming

Sinn Féin says it’s committed to placing the family farm model at the heart of future agriculture