The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) is to hold a meeting on Tuesday night to discuss the association’s attendance at Wednesday’s Farmers Charter of Rights group meeting.

The meeting comes as the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) announced on Tuesday that it is to boycott the meeting as a result of the Department’s move to implement new payment dates without farm organisation agreement.

The ICSA’s policy committee, which is comprised of the senior officers in the ICSA, will make a decision following the meeting regarding the ICSA’s attendance.

Following the last charter meeting, the ICSA lodged its criticism of the “Department’s unilateral decision to alter payment dates”.

ICMSA

The president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA), Pat McCormack, said that the ICMSA finds the charter group a “frustrating place”, but that his association would be attending on Wednesday.

“It is the only place we can get meaningful change,” he said, adding that he believes the ICMSA is better off in the room than outside of it.

“There are huge changes [to farm schemes] at the minute. Any notion of putting back payment dates has to be diminished. Repayments are steered around these dates,” he said.

McCormack said the ICMSA would review the situation on a constant basis. “It is a last resort when you have to pull out,” he said.

INHFA

The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) intends to attend Wednesday’s meeting.

Speaking to the Irish Farmers Journal, president Vincent Roddy said it would be better to see if the farm organisations can get the Department to go back to their original farm payment dates.

“It was unanimously agreed by the farm organisations at the last meeting that the payments would be the original dates. The letter that was sent out to farmers ignored the sentiment that was expressed in the room,” he said.

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