Irish dairy farmers stand to lose €183 million a year if the Fischler mid-term CAP proposals on dairying are agreed this week, the industry claimed yesterday.
In an historic move, the four main farm organisations, along with the National Dairy Council, Irish Dairy Board and the Irish Dairies Industries Association of IBEC, came together to agree a position on the Irish dairy sector.
A joint statement, issued at a press conference following the meeting, said their action was based on their shared concern about the unprecedented threat posed to the sector by the mid-term review.
They had agreed that if the Commission's proposals were accepted, they would cut the market value of Irish milk output by 28 per cent or €400 million per annum.
The level of compensation being offered for that cut represented only 55 per cent of the loss, leaving a net loss of €183 million per annum.
The organisations had set out eight key policy issues which they forwarded to the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Walsh.
"Included in the issues being highlighted is the industry's opposition to the reductions in milk price supports, the securing of full compensation for any cuts introduced and the linking of this compensation to quota.
"The organisations hold that there is a very real threat of an income collapse ahead for dairy farmers should the mid-term review proposals, as they currently stand, be accepted by the farm ministers," it said.
"Dairy farmers will lose €183 million per annum under these proposals. The consequences of this reduction in farm income would undermine the rural economy in many parts of Ireland and would most definitely impact on employment, not just in milk processing, but in other sectors servicing farming and dairy processing," it concluded.
Dealing with the current proposals, Mr Pat O'Rourke, president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, said the 35 per cent reduction in the butter intervention price and the 17.5 per cent reduction in the skim milk powder intervention price would result in a 28 per cent drop in the milk price.
He said the Commission proposal to compensate dairy producers for loss of supports would only cover 55 per cent of the price cut and this was unacceptable.
The Macra na Feirme president, Mr Thomas Honner, said the dairy premium should be targeted at active farmers and not limited to farmers who held quota on March 31st, 2004.
Mr Dessie Boylan, president of ICOS, the umbrella body for the co-operative movement, called for the grass/maize silage subsidy in Ireland to be brought up to mainland European levels to correct the disadvantages currently faced by Irish farmers.
Mr Matt O'Keeffe, of the IFA, said the dairy industry here would accept nothing less than full compensation for the cuts in dairy market supports and could not accept compensation at a level of 55 per cent.
There are 27,000 Irish dairy farmers and 7,200 people employed in milk processing in the State, with a total output of €3.1 billion.