Donegal farm families commended by Minister McConalogue

DONEGAL minister, Charlie McConalogue, has praised the hard work and dedication of the hundreds of farm families in Donegal.

“Agriculture continues to be Ireland’s largest indigenous industry and our largest source of exports, with 130,000 family farms working day in and day out to deliver top quality and sustainable produce which goes to 170 markets globally. Farm families in Donegal play a major part in this process and I commend them for their continuous hard work and commitment,” the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine said.

“We can all be proud in Donegal for the wonderful agriculture and food sector we have. Agriculture continues to be our largest form of foreign exports and that’s thanks to the many farmers locally and nationally that work so hard. In government, Fianna Fáil is working to back the work of our family farms,” he added.

“I’ve been proud to deliver on our commitment to introduce an Agri-Food Regulator to make sure that Irish farm families will get fair play in the supply chain and get the best price possible for what they produce. I’ve always wanted to see a situation whereby farm families and the farmers in Donegal and throughout the country have the protection necessary to ensure that they are getting a fair deal for the valuable work they do.

“We’ve also worked to deliver a new Common Agricultural Policy which sees 50 per cent extra funding from the government going to schemes that support our sheep sector and our beef sector, as well as our tillage sector and our dairy sector. It also backs farmers in relation to delivering in terms of environmental commitment that sees them lead on biodiversity, and also reducing omissions which we have seen deliver real results this year with a four and a half per cent reduction,” Minister McConalogue said.

“This is work that I’m proud to do on behalf of farmers in Donegal and all over Ireland, and I’m proud that we are delivering on Fianna Fáil’s commitment to supporting family farms,” the Donegal minister added.

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