ICMSA call for TB compensation improvements to be implemented immediately
REACTING to the new TB compensation arrangements and after a further meeting with Department of Agriculture, Food & Marine officials, the ICMSA Deputy President, Pat McCormack, said that the improvements to the TB Income Supplement Scheme and the inclusion of dairy farmers in the Hardship Scheme need to be introduced immediately as any delay means that farmers will continue to lose heavily in terms of income and the additional costs associated with a TB restriction.
“ICMSA has noted – and supports – the improvements to the Income Supplement scheme for dairy cows even if it still falls short in relation to full compensation for those farmers unfortunate enough to be restricted due to TB. But farmers cannot be expected to wait an extended period of time for the new compensation to be implemented and we certainly cannot have a situation where a farmer is left worse off in terms of income support because he or she was restricted before some arbitrary date set by the Department or the EU Commission. The improved payment terms under the Income Supplement and Hardship Schemes must be implemented immediately and bureaucracy at national or EU level must not be used as an excuse to delay it implementation”, said the ICMSA Deputy President.
Turning to the reduction in the EBI co- efficient from € 1.35 to € 0.50, Mr. McCormack said that this was a serious and disappointing retrograde step and the Minister should review the decision as farmers are going to lose substantially under this proposal. He said the change in the EBI base that may be introduced by ICBF also needs to be accommodated and, following the meeting, ICMSA is hopeful that the EBI co- efficient will be index linked and “inflated” if – and when - there is a reduction in the EBI. “Dairy farmers have embraced the EBI concept and it would be totally unjustified and grossly unfair to see a double reduction in EBI compensation if these measures are not adopted”, concluded the ICMSA