The Agricultural Consultants Association (ACA) is calling on the Government to heed the recommendations of the McCarthy ‘Bord Snip’ report and make more use of private agricultural consultants who are available at no extra cost to the tax payer.
ACA president Bréian Carroll said he was calling for an immediately revamp the Irish farm advisory service to ensure a proper competitive structure in agricultural advice and consultancy, leading to a better and more economic service for farmers.
“The Association is growing in both members and clients and we in private practice will continue our professional development to meet the challenges of the sector. However, we must not be hampered by uneconomic state intervention, which interferes with normal business competition," he said.
"What the ACA wants is a level playing field so that we can compete without the State interference. While the research and education services of Teagasc are extremely important to the sector, the need for heavily loss making advisory services is a burden on the tax payer, as the private sector is more than capable of handling the work," he added.