Seven convoys, made up of up to two thousand tractors in total, continued to rumble eastwards to Dublin on the third day of the farmers' protest over declining incomes.
Farmers are protesting at what they claim is an erosion of prices paid for milk and livestock that has led to an average 13 per cent decline in agricultural incomes.
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The protest was boosted this morning by the State agricultural research agency Teagasc, which backed the Irish Farmers Association (IFA) in its argument with the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh over average farmers' income. Mr Walsh claims farmers' incomes are around ?45,000 per year while IFA president, Mr John Dillon says around ?15,000 is more accurate.
He accused the Minister of "propaganda" in misrepresenting the facts contained in the Teagasc National Farm Survey.
Teagasc chief economist Mr Liam Connolly today confirmed the last survey conducted by the agency showed the average farmer's income in 2001 was ?15,840.
"In 2001, we found that the ?45,000 figure was the total revenue taken in by farmers, that is, the total sales of livestock, crops plus all the direct payments farmers receive," Mr Connolly said. "Farmers cannot hold onto to all this, they have to pay the costs involved, as in any business."
He said the costs were estimated at ?30,000, leaving an average net annual profit of ?15,840. However, he acknowledged that farmers pay considerably less tax than PAYE workers.
The tax take for the Exchequer from the average farm income is just ?1,000, compared with ?7,000 for the average industrial wage, which stands at ?26,000. Average public-service pay is ?37,000.
Mr Dillon said this afternoon that the evidence shows "the Minister does not have a leg to stand on, and should admit that the earlier figure he used was a distortion of the facts".
"The figure used by the Minister for Agriculture was the value of total sales plus direct payments, but totally ignored production costs on farms. This is a gross misinterpretation by the Minister," Mr Dillon said.
The Central Statistics Office estimated farm incomes had fallen by 8.5 per cent in 2002.
The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers (ICMSA) announced this afternoon that it has organised a continuous protest outside Government Buildings starting Monday, January 13th, 2003.
Bus Eireann today warned passengers that services are facing serious delays due to the protests. These disruptions are expected to escalate around Dublin when the farmers arrive for their planned protest outside the Department of Agriculture headquarters on Dawson Street.
The company said that because of the mobile nature of the protests, it was impossible to predict exactly where the worst delays would occur.
Mitchelstown, Co Cork to Durrow, Co Laois;
Nenagh, Co Tipperary to Mountrath, Co Laois; Waterford city to Kilkenny;
Wexford to Arklow, Co Wicklow;
Ballinasloe, Co Galway to Kilbeggan, Co Westmeath;
Castlerea, Co Roscommon and Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim to Edgeworthstown, Co Longford;
Emyvale, Co Monahgan to Ardee, Co Louth.
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| The route to be taken by the farmers' protest tomorrow |