Confirmation from the Minister for Agriculture that there will not be a dairy cow cull scheme is “unbelievably cynical”, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) has said.

ICMSA president Denis Drennan said farmers have been “led up the garden path” by the scheme not going ahead after being proposed two years ago.

An exit and reduction scheme had been recommended by the Food Vision dairy group.

It was revealed by the Irish Farmers Journal this week that Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue had confirmed the proposed scheme would not be offered to farmers.

“Farmers began making preparations on the basis that the scheme was on the way," said Drennan.

“Today, after waiting for two years, they realise that they have been led up the garden path and the Minister has no intention now - if ever he had - of introducing an exit scheme.

“He’s just going to regulate them out of existence with no exit package.

“It is unbelievably cynical and gives a glimpse of what the Irish Government really thinks of its dairy and livestock farmers and the sectors that they built and backboned,” he said.

Drennan added that the ICMSA met with Department of Agriculture officials a number of weeks ago and were informed at that point the scheme was still being considered.

‘Deeply unacceptable’

The ICMSA president said the treatment of Irish dairy farmers and their representative organisations in this regard is “two-faced and just deeply unacceptable”.

Referencing the Netherlands, Drennan added that the Dutch had introduced a well-funded transition scheme for their farmers and not “regulating out of existence”.

“It’s been obvious for some time now that the Government was intent on undermining the beef and dairy sectors to the point of irreparable damage.

“But they should at least do that in an honest and forthright way and not indulge in this kind of sneaky, and frankly underhanded fashion, that has them saying one thing to their own citizens, while obviously planning to do something different all the while.

“It’s a really poor day for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and an even poorer day for those of us who assumed that we could accept in good faith what we were being told was going to happen.

“The ICMSA will be meeting with Taoiseach [Simon] Harris shortly and we will be asking him blunt questions about this episode and others.

“We cannot continue with this uncertainty - created by our own Government - for any longer,” he added.

Regulation

Drennan said it is his belief that the Government has decided to “quietly regulate family dairy farms out of existence”.

“Obviously, we think that’s a decision that will have ruinous consequences for the rural areas of Ireland, but we are forced to conclude - through weight of evidence - that Minister McConalogue and his cabinet colleagues, despite their protestations, want our dairy and livestock sectors effectively gone,” he said.