The Taoiseach yesterday ensured a change in the EU summit conclusion, which will now stress that the European Commission must consider the effect of the BSE crisis on beef producers as well as consumers.
Mr Ahern's intervention followed pressure from the Irish Farmers' Association which met him in Nice yesterday morning seeking compensation for new stringent EU actions to deal with the BSE crisis.
Last night the Taoiseach said he had persuaded his fellow European leaders to acknowledge the plight of farmers. "This is primarily about the safety of our foodstuffs," he said. "But farmers should not be ignored in this debate."
IFA president Mr Tom Parlon earlier warned that cattle farmers would seek Government compensation for loss of income if the EU refused to help beef producers. However, Mr Ahern acknowledged that any compensation would have to be done within the existing EU budget.
The European Council has agreed a series of measures designed to restore public confidence in beef, but which the IFA fears will cause huge losses to Irish farmers. The measures include a ban on the use of meat-and-bone meal and the implementation of new - and expensive - BSE testing programmes.
The plan to insist that all cows aged over 30 months be BSE-tested before being put on to the market could cost farmers £1 billion in 2001, Mr Parlon warned yesterday.
Speaking to reporters in Nice, he said the testing process could be so expensive that it would be more efficient to slaughter such animals. He called for a compensatory payment to farmers of £100 per animal.
He said he was also seeking large-scale purchase of cattle for intervention by the EU to compensate for the closure of the Egyptian market. He called for a minimum price of 90p per pound to be paid in such cases.
Government sources said the change in the summit conclusion proposed by the Taoiseach ensures that the Commission must consider the losses to farmers as well as the food safety issues involved. However, the summit conclusion does not offer much prospect of EU compensation, as it says consideration of farmers' difficulties must be "in strict compliance with the financial perspective".