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ICSA Takes Issue with Minister’s Statement on Sheep Industry

Jul 15, 2015 | Press Releases | 0 comments

June 15th 2015

ICSA sheep chairman John Brooks has taken issue with a recent statement by Minister Coveney in relation to support for the sheep industry, and in particular, live exports.

“We cannot say that we are fully supportive of live exports without considering the huge deterrent of the 30-day residency requirement,” said Mr. Brooks. “ICSA would like to see the Department moving to end or reduce this restriction to give farmers more options for disposing of stock.”

“The Minister referred to efforts to secure new export markets such as China, but nothing concrete has been achieved on this, and delivering a questionnaire to the Chinese can hardly be described as progress. There appears to be a distinct lack of urgency on this.”

“Despite the Minister’s clear attempt to put a positive spin on the current difficulties faced by sheep farmers, serious problems remain in the Irish sheep industry. Vague references to supposed benefits for the sector under the GLAS and ANC schemes only serve to muddy the waters, given that there is nothing in these schemes that is specific to sheep farmers. We urgently need to see real progress on opening up the live export option.”

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