Sligo IFA holds briefing with Fianna Fail Leader Micheal Martin
FIANNA Fail Leader Micheal Martin joined Party Colleagues Marc Mac Sharry & Eamon Scanlon to discuss the ongoing fodder and other challenges facing Sligo farming families.
Speaking after the meeting Marc Mac Sharry local Fianna Fail TD said “we had a very positive engagement with Sligo IFA chairman JP Cowley. It was of paramount importance to us that our Party Leader is appraised first hand of the enormous challenges facing agriculture and farming families in this area”.
“The fodder crisis was naturally of most urgent concern and naturally we lament the ambivalence and inaction of the failure of Minister Creed and the Government in ignoring calls going back to last September to make the necessary preparations for what was seen by all ,it seems, except the Minister, as the inevitable fodder emergency in which we have found ourselves. Fianna Fail promoted and continue to favour the introduction of a meal voucher scheme to alleviate the difficulties of farming families. In addition, appropriate multi annual planning is required to ensure a state of readiness given the increasingly poor weather patterns and unpredictable weather events we have been experiencing. The front loading of the basic payment should also be an option which families can draw on in these difficult times”.
“The review of the CAP must prioritise support for marginalised farming families with small holdings poorer land and poor weather. Workable, less bureaucratic supports must be channelled to support our sucklar heard along the lines of a €200 welfare scheme rather than the existing complicated Genomics Scheme which will have ultimately have a negative impact on the marketable quality of our beef production.”
In concluding Mac Sharry said “We are extremely grateful to JP Cowley and Sligo IFA for taking the time for such a detailed engagement. It is of critical importance to us that the policy initiatives we pursue are designed and influenced with the first hand experience and expertise of those on the front line”