Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan faced severe criticism over the negotiations on the sugar industry last night when she officially opened the Macra na Feirme annual rally and conference being attending in Sligo by hundreds of young farmers.
She told the young farmers who have gathered here despite the poor weather that her negotiations in Brussels had prevented the "abrupt demise" of the sugar industry and provided a breathing space for all those involved in managing the future of the industry.
The Minister said the very tense negotiations had resulted in a package which was worth €310 million to Ireland and took into account the unique conditions prevailing here.
However, Macra, which represents 8,000 young farmers, expressed its disappointment with the package and said it was particularly difficult for young farmers to accept there was no future for such an important industry which was pivotal to the cereal industry.
Macra national president Colm Markey also said that Ireland and the UK should be treated as one region for milk quota trading.
"There has been a lot of talk in recent times about allowing the cross-border trading of milk quotas within the European Union but this could be dangerous for Ireland as quota could be sucked towards the centre of Europe.
"However, allowing Ireland and the UK to be treated as one region would be a positive step," he said.
Mr Markey pointed out that the UK did not fill its quota last year and that the price of quota in the UK was significantly lower than in Ireland.
"I am proposing that processors in Ireland would be allowed to purchase milk quota from their counterparts in the UK and distribute it to their farmer suppliers in Ireland," he said.
The young farmer leader said that a radical step such as this was required to allow dairy farmers to expand their businesses in the years ahead and to prepare for an environment where we would no longer have milk quotas.
"In my opinion, the Minister has managed the trading of our milk quota very well in Ireland which has allowed young farmers to build their businesses incrementally without spending huge amounts on quota, but regardless of how we manage our national quota, the reality is that we simply do not have enough quota to satisfy demand," he said.
Mr Markey also pointed out that Ireland had a competitive advantage in dairying and that we should be allowed to exploit this.
"Because of our grass-based system, we can produce milk very efficiently and naturally in Ireland," he said.
Mr Markey also pointed out that significant amounts of milk quota had moved from other parts of the UK into Northern Ireland.