Irish beef farmers urge Govt to follow the Belgian model
Irish beef farmers are asking the Government to do more to support meat exporting companies and to follow the Belgian model applied for food exporting companies. Irish Farmers Association (IFA) President Tim Cullinan said the approval by the EU of a Belgian initiative to support companies that export at least 30% of turnover must be used by the Irish Government as a precedent to provide export credit insurance for the dairy and meat sectors.
“Other countries have invested over €1 billion in their Agri sectors to help them through the COVID-19 crisis, under State Aid rules. There is a real danger that we are being left behind,” he said.
The current level of support provided by the EU through the APS scheme is considered insufficient by both beef and dairy producers. “The meat market has also been badly hit by COVID-19, and farmers will need additional supports over and above APS. As well as direct EU supports for livestock farmers, export credit insurance under the recently improved EU State Aid rules, and the €2 billion loan scheme which is to include farmers, are packages the Irish Government must deliver urgently,” IFA National Livestock Chairman Brendan Golden concluded.
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