The draft Food Vision dairy group interim report due for publication on Wednesday has been postponed until Friday 1 April.

The dairy group, chaired by former Teagasc director Gerry Boyle, has been meeting for the last number of weeks.

In advance of its publication, the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) has come out strongly, completely opposing any quotas or restrictions and suggesting a farm retirement scheme would bring little or no medium- or long-term benefit.

It stated that the dairy sector is one of the most sustainable sectors in Europe and placing restrictions on output is not consistent with economic and social sustainability.

'Reckless'

The IFA goes further and suggests it would be reckless to proceed with any measure to reduce food production capacity in Ireland.

The group is being given one week to assess the draft interim report when it is published and is expected to then meet again on Monday 11 April to agree an interim report that will be sent to the Minister for Agriculture.