Offaly IFA lobby on beef and Brexit aid package

IFA President Joe Healy said the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and the Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed must maintain maximum political pressure at all levels to secure a €100m Brexit aid package for beef losses.

Joe Healy said Minister Creed said at last night’s Beef Summit that the Department had recognised and accepted the €100m analysis of the losses by IFA when making their case to Government and Brussels. The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has intervened directly with EU Commission President Jean Claude Juncker.

“Both of these statements are significant in terms of securing an aid package, but it is critically important that no stone is left unturned. With just two weeks to voting, farm families will be watching closely to see how our political leaders pursue the aid package,” he said.

The IFA National Livestock Chairman Angus Woods said beef farmers have been savaged financially by Brexit beef price cuts. “Beef farmers have major bills to pay to the feed merchants, banks and others. Incomes have been destroyed. These losses are real and have been acknowledged and accepted by the Department of Agriculture and the EU Commission who have analysed the data.”