A Louth IFA delegation met with Minister Fergus O’Dowd and other reps to point out that the new legislation, the Competition & Consumer Protection Bill, will be a waste of time unless amended.
Matthew McGreehan Louth IFA Chairman states: “The all-party agricultural oireachtas committee last year published a report where they stated that there should be legislation to protect the primary producer, but this bill falls far short of that. We looked for support from our politicians in seeking amendments to the bill which included an independent Ombudsman, a ban on below cost selling and for the disclosure of profits in the Irish market of the large retail multiples to improve transparency.
“We have no faith in a new competition and consumer protection commission which will result in the merger of the National Consumer Agency. We are not calling for the price of food to go up in price for the consumer but the retailers are making a much bigger margin than they were some years ago and all we were looking for was fair play. We need a price return that covers the cost of production and leaves a margin also,” he said.
“If they want to see the 2020 Food Harvest target met the government needs to bring in legislation to protect the primary producer or otherwise farmers are not going to be able to afford to produce the raw material to see the kind of growth we have seen in exports in recent years.
“Already we have seen the national suckler herd reduced by over 100,000 cows because farmers are not getting the returns. I made them aware of the UCD report which found that that the loss of 100,000 cows is a loss of 5,000 jobs and is also a loss of €200 million to the national economy. Our national herd is our natural resource and we must protect it and the government must not squander this opportunity and introduce meaningful legislation.
“Louth IFA made it clear to them all that this bill will do nothing to protect the farmers that are growing the potatoes and are producing the milk and all the other commodities.”
