Louth senator commits support for sheep sector
Senator McGreehan joined recent Save our Sheep Sector protest with the IFA
Louth based Senator Erin McGreehan, says she will continue to support the Irish sheep sector, and has called for Sheep Welfare Scheme payments to be increased by a minimum of €30 per sheep.
Senator McGreehan joined the recent Save our Sheep Sector (SOS) protest with the IFA, and says that over the past number of years, she has raised issues including what she calls "the inequity in the sheep welfare scheme", "the constant delay in the establishment of the Wool Council", and "the necessity of enforcement and enhancement of the Dog Control legislation".
Commenting on raising the Sheep Welfare Scheme at a at the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party meeting, Senator McGreehan said, “I raised the issue to put further pressure on my colleagues at cabinet. I mentioned that I continuously raise the matter, and that I was sick of the sheep sector being the poor cousin of the agri industry”.
The Cooley senator who is from a farming background, said that, "in 2022 we exported sheep meat to 35 different countries, €476 million worth of sheep to factories. Yet the net returns for sheep farmers fell by 81%. Costs of production are going up and margins are clearly reducing."
She continued, "we really need to improve the Sheep Welfare Scheme. I raised a Commencement matter with the Minister a couple of months ago on increasing the sheep welfare scheme payments. It is only €12 per sheep and needs to be increased by a minimum of €30”.
With regards the establishment of the Wool Council, Senator McGreehan said that “we need to be able to ensure that their wool, which is a sustainable product, has a market that and that it is being sold, and utilised for its potential."
The senator added, "We also need to protect sheep from dogs. We have an absolutely lackadaisical approach to looking after sheep in relation to sheep kills.
"We really need to move on that very quickly. We have 35,000 sheep farming families in the country and it is about time that both of these Houses started to stand up and listen to the sheep sector. It has been ignored for too long.”