27 AUGUST 2019
ICSA president Edmond Phelan has called on the meat industry to forget about litigation against helpless farmers who are on their knees. “The only solution for individual meat factories is to put cash on the table and offer a substantial price increase. Farmers cannot survive at current prices which are way below the cost of production,” he said.
Mr Phelan said that there could be no more talks with the meat industry while the threat of court fines hangs over farm representatives or individual farmers.
ICSA believes that the court injunctions have been a catastrophic error by the meat industry in terms of the planned Chinese inspections of Irish meat plants. “ICSA wants to see more beef and lamb sold in China but we insist that it is time to see a dividend for farmers from these new markets. Farmers are sick of seeing new markets being opened that are delivering absolutely nothing to farmers on price.”
“The solution to this is simple; it won’t be found in the courts. Pay farmers a fair price instead of paying lawyers big fees.”
ENDS