The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has confirmed that they have met with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue, following protests by pig farming members in Dublin City earlier this week. The IFA has submitted a request for a €100 million package in conjunction with Meat Industry Ireland (MII) and the Irish Grain and Feed Association (IGFA).
The plan proposes a “50-50 private-public partnership” to be funded through €50 million of state money, and another €50 million put on a long-term mortgage of €1 per pig stretched out over 14 or 15 years.
But there has been no announcement yet from either the IFA or the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine as to what agreement came out of the meeting. Reports have since emerged stating that the protest has been paused in order to allow for an assessment of anything that might have been agreed upon.
IFA pig chairperson Roy Gallie said he was calling on Minister McConalogue to “give us his decision on how he’s going to approach this industry, because if we do nothing, it will simply disappear, and that will be good for nobody”.
Meanwhile IFA president Tim Cullinan says that the “pig farming sector’s entire future hangs in the balance and there has to be urgent government action to support farmers”.