FARMERS found guilty of using illegal substances or engaging in any illegal activity with regard to BSE should be driven out of farming, the president of Macra na Feirme, Mr Joe Healy, said last night.
He told the opening session of the annual Macra conference in Cork that while the vast bulk of farmers were innocent of any abuses, in the public eye they were guilty of failing to maintain proper standards as food producers.
Referring to what he termed "the darker side of farming practised by a minority", Mr Healy repeated his call on the Minister for Agriculture to withdraw herd numbers and subsidies from convicted abusers.
However, he described allegations by the general secretary of SIPTU, Mr Bill Attley, that farmers were deliberately trying to poison consumers as "malicious and extremely disappointing".
He added: "I do not know what his agenda can be but he seems to have forgotten just how dependent Irish workers are on agriculture. I wonder is he just jumping on some kind of bandwagon."
The annual conference, which will be attended by more than 2,000 members over the weekend, is the first since the BSE crisis.
Mr Healy also questioned the Minister for Agriculture's commitment to young farmers.
"Minister Yates, as the youngest Minister for Agriculture ever, has pledged his commitment to young farmers, but for many of us here today, it's very difficult to see the evidence of this commitment," he said. Young farmers were now operating without any investment grants and the problems created by the BSE crisis had made their lives even more difficult.