BY DIONNE MEEHAN
DONEGAL Sheep Chairman, Adrian Gallagher said sheep farming is not viable at the minute unless a support is put in place.
Adrian recently hosted a meeting with the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Marine, Charlie McConalogue at his home in Letterkenny in a bid to achieve a support for sheep farmers.
Speaking to the Donegal News, Adrian said the approach of the meeting was to seek funds from the Brexit Adjustment Reserve.
“There is a pot of money that is available for businesses that were significantly impacted by Brexit.
“If any business has a case, which meets the criteria, then there is support for them.
“From a sheep perspective, which I am National Vice Chair of, we have been trying to see if we can get a portion of the money,” he said.
The Brexit Reserve Fund aims to provide financial support to the Member States, regions and sectors most affected by Brexit to deal with the adverse economic, social, territorial and, where appropriate, environmental consequences.
Ireland, as the Member State most affected, has received a significant allocation of over €1 billion.
However, an eligibility criteria set by the EU to qualify expenditure under the Reserve are stringent, and any proposed expenditure must demonstrate a direct link to negative impacts arising from Brexit.
IFA Sheep Chairman, Kevin Comiskey, who also attended the meeting, said sheep farmers are feeling the brunt of the Brexit impact in trade deals done by the UK with New Zealand and Australia in particular.
“Both are large sheep-producing countries with the capacity to severely undermine our key markets.
“These trade deals are in addition to deals already done and in the pipeline with the EU providing additional sheep meat access to our key markets.
“Other sectors and processors have had Brexit Adjustment Reserve funding allocated.
“Very few, if any have experienced the same level of impact on incomes as sheep farmers and yet, the Government have not allocated any BAR funding to the sector. This is unacceptable,” he said.
Adrian said since Brexit, England has imported additional lamb from New Zealand and sent their lamb to Ireland.
“We have taken in lamb from the UK in carcass form, it is being processed in Ireland and it is then being sent out to the European Market as Celtic lamb through Irish ports.
“That can be backed up by our sheep meat exports in 2022, which have increased by 17 per cent. Our sheep flock hasn’t increased, so how can you export more meat when there is no change to the national sheep flock,” he said.
Although the price of lamb remained fairly level last year, Adrian said it was below the price in 2021.
“Sheep farmers at the moment are pretty much on the floor, in fact, I killed lambs last week that died in debt,” he said.
Kevin Comiskey called on the Minister and the Government to come forward as a matter of urgency with immediate targeted supports for sheep farmers to provide €30/ewe and supports for farmers finishing store lambs.
He said TDs throughout the country are acutely aware of the situation of sheep farmers in their constituencies.
“They have a key role to play in ensuring the necessary funding is provided for direct supports to sheep farmers to alleviate this crisis,” he said.
In response to this, Minister Charlie McConalogue said he recognises that sheep farmers are experiencing more difficult market conditions in 2023 compared to recent years.
“With regard to the current challenges facing the sector, I have requested my officials to maintain close monitoring of market trends over the coming months and the Government will continue to make every effort to support the sector,” he said.
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