Farmers driven to fuel protests after being "hammered" by high costs and regulations

The “financial hammer” of high costs on farmers in Laois and other counties led to the nationwide protests, according to the President of ICMSA, Denis Drennan.

However, the leader said that the extent of the pressures being exerted on farmers in Laois and throughout Ireland and the threat it represented appears to have finally dawned on the Government.

Mr Drennan leads an organisation that was part of the talks that led to the protests ending.

“Obviously, we’ll all have to withhold final judgement on the Government’s agri ‘package’ until we have a chance to see how the details will impact farmers. Farmers still feel incredibly frustrated – and justifiably so – that this ‘financial hammer’ and regulatory burden that was falling on them was there for all to see, but it still didn’t seem to register with the Government.

“They (the Government) seemed to think that they could leave it alone and it would all just work itself out. That was never a real option – certainly not for ICMSA – and the Government’s approach to the agri sector and farming, specifically, needs to change radically.

“We just can’t go on like this: lurching from crisis to crisis, whether it be plunging milk price, uncertainty over Mercosur and the Nitrates Derogation and an ever-increasing regulatory burden, with the result that we can’t get young people to commit to farming as a career,” he said.

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He said the whole sector of farming and agriculture was effectively on the point of seizing up completely.

“Farmers would have been better off financially by not doing anything. At least then, they wouldn’t be working every day and losing money every day. We can’t go on like that, there needs to be a change, and it has to come quickly”, said Mr Drennan.

The €100 million fuel crisis package for farming and fishing is targeted and gives practical support to those most exposed, according to the Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon.

A statement from his department said the Fuel Subsidy Support Scheme was aimed at helping farmers, agricultural contractors and fishers facing what are described as “unprecedented increases” in fuel costs.

The Minister commented on the outcome of talks which involved the IFA and ICMSA.

“This Government recognises the exceptional pressure that rising fuel costs are placing on our farmers, contractors and fishers. This targeted and practical support package ensures that those most exposed to these increases will receive meaningful assistance at the most critical time of year.

"We have worked intensively with representative stakeholder groups in recent times, and I believe that this represents a fair and effective scheme based on actual fuel usage, taking account also of the vital work played by farm contractors in our farming systems. This approach ensures that funding is directed where it is needed most, helping to sustain essential food production and rural economic activity,” he said.

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The crisis has led to the resignation of Minister of State in the Department of Agriculture, Michael Healy Rae, from the Government.