Irish government faces farming criticisms

15/04/2003

The Irish government has been accused of neglecting Ireland’s farming community by Billy Timmins, the Fine Gael agriculture spokesperson.

Timmins says the Government has ignored predictions made by the Irish Agriculture and Food Department Authority (Teagasc), which state that the number of people involved in full-time farming in Ireland will drop 50% to 20,000 within eight years.

 

Mr Timmins says the predictions were made in the Agri-Food 2010 Report, which was published in March 2000 and claims no efforts have been made by the Government to remedy the situation. He says the Irish government has in fact added to the hardship facing farmers by increasing input costs, creating a situation where many are now contemplating their future in the farming industry.