The protests by farmers escalated yesterday when a Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture was heckled at a conference.
The Teagasc/IFA Potato Conference became the platform for two protests, the first by the IFA against low incomes, and the second against the amalgamation of the Horticulture Board with Bord Bia.
The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture and Food, Mr Noel Treacy, was heckled as he began the opening address to the conference in Kill, Co Kildare.
IFA deputy president Mr Ruaidhrí Deasy led the protest by telling Mr Treacy that Government cuts had cost the farming sector €300 million .
A number of people walked out of the conference when Mr Treacy finished his address, during which he hinted that some of the problems facing farmers might be addressed in the Finance Act. "With the Finance Bill going through the Dáil, perhaps we should be able to find some solutions in the next two weeks to farmers' problems," he said.
He also revealed "an important meeting" had taken place in relation to one of the key demands of farmers, the abolition of "roll-over" tax relief on lands compulsorily acquired by the State for road building.
The second protest took place later when growers voiced objections to the amalgamation of An Bord Glas, the horticulture board, with An Bord Bia, the food board.
Mr John Sheridan, chairman of the IFA potato committee, said Bord Glas had been set up to promote horticulture. Bord Bia, he said, had been set up to advance food markets abroad and had no development role in relation to agriculture.
He said the potato and horticulture sector was now worth more than the sheep, pigs, poultry and cereal sector - as it had generated a farm-gate value of €369 million in 2001.