IFA calls for meeting on farmer compensation

The president of the Irish Farmers' Association has repeated his demands for the Government to compensate farmers who have suffered financially because of the recent wet weather.

Mr John Dillon said an urgent meeting with the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, should happen "very, very soon, perhaps later this week".

We don't want money for everybody, we want a targeted package for the people that need it most. IFA president Mr John Dillon

He estimated the cost of the adverse weather at around €100 million, but the final figure would not be known until a full assessment was done by Teagasc.

"We don't want money for everybody, we want a targeted package for the people that need it most," Mr Dillon told RTÉ's Morning Ireland. He also called on the minister to use his influence in Europe to address falling beef, milk and grain prices.

A Department of Agriculture source said Mr Walsh meets farm leaders on a regular basis but there were no special arrangements to meet this week. He said there was no change to the position the minister laid out last week that there was no money available as an emergency fund for stricken farmers.

"The bottom line is, in relation to a specific fund, we do not have that kind of money available to us given the tight budgetary situation we have now," Mr Walsh said on Friday.

A number of measures to ease pressure on farmers are being introduced, the source said, including a joint effort with the Department of Social, Community and Family Affairs to base the social welfare Farm Assist scheme on this year's income. Teagasc have also been asked to work with farmers.

In addition, he noted that Mr Walsh had secured permission from the EU to bring forward the use of set-aside from next month to August 9th and had extended the period for spreading slurry. "We want to help farmers to maximise the good weather available," he said.