Tillage protesters will continue to stage their sit in at Agriculture House on Kildare Street for as long as is required, IFA president Joe Healy has said.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said that the IFA has sought a meeting with the Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed to get further clarity on the tillage crisis fund.

“We’ve been trying to get an aid package in place for 10 months. We were willing to work within the de minimis rules.”

This would see a maximum limit of €15,000 available to each individual farmer. However, the IFA president said on Thursday morning that the Department of Agriculture “leaked” to the press that farmers could only receive a maximum of €5,000.

“We want a meeting with the minister. The €5,000 was never mentioned [in discussions about a crisis fund]. We worked within the de minimis rules of €15,000.”

He said the IFA has sought a meeting with the minister so that the figures that were published would be taken off the table.

Sit-in

The IFA president's comments come as a number of farmers remained in Agriculture House last night, continuing their protest. They are insisting that they will not leave until they secure a meeting with Department officials to secure an increase in the proposed maximum ceiling for the tillage fund.

At 7am this morning, secretary general at the Department, Aidan O'Driscoll, spoke to the protesters for 20 minutes. This did not result in any changes, with the farmers remaining in situ.

Irish Farmers Journal news correspondent Anthony Jordan remains in Agriculture House with the IFA to bring live coverage from the sit-in.

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