Participants in a farmers’ meeting on the upcoming €100m Brexit compensation scheme for beef farmers have slammed the European Commission’s suggestion that Ireland should restructure the industry before it can access the funds.

National officers for the IFA, which organised the meeting in Tullamore, Co Offaly, on Monday night, were clear that the case they had put to Irish and EU authorities did not include measures to cut beef production.

“We didn’t do the analysis for anything to do with restructuring,” said IFA president Joe Healy. “This fund is for retrospective compensation for people who lost €0.40 to €1/kg since last autumn.”

There is no way we will cull cattle here to make way for South American beef

Livestock chair Angus Woods warned that cutting beef production in Ireland would open an avenue for the European Commission to conclude a trade agreement with Mercosur, which “is being rammed through at the moment”. “There is no way we will cull cattle here to make way for South American beef,” Woods said, adding that restructuring production here would not achieve higher prices if reduced volumes were replaced by cheap imports.

Woods added that the suggestion was “not acceptable”.

“Our position is to support the suckler cow, not to cull the suckler cow,” he added. Woods also confirmed that the IFA will continue its separate long-term campaign for a permanent €200/cow suckler support.

From the floor, farmers were also hostile to the idea of production cuts, described as “a mean and dirty stroke from the Commissioner” when the upcoming CAP reform will offer an opportunity to discuss deeper changes to the sector. Some suggested that restructuring was happening anyway, with many suckler cows now being sold.

Kildare/west Wicklow IFA chair Brian Rushe described the European Commission’s draft rules for the scheme as “ham fisted and opportunistic”.

“The message from tonight should be that we absolutely and flatly reject the shameless use of financial crisis farmers are finding themselves in to restructure the sector,” he added.

Directly to farmers

Woods asked for the €100m to be paid directly to farmers who sold prime finished cattle since last autumn, and to suckler farmers, with the exact calculation to be worked out by the Department.

Laois IFA chair Francie Gorman called for this to happen automatically. "There should be no application form, the money should be paid to those who suffered the losses ASAP," he said, drawing a round of applause from the room.

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