The EU Farm Commissioner, Mr Franz Fischler, yesterday acknowledged the dire plight of Irish sheep farmers and promised to see what could be done.
Speaking to IFA representatives as he went into the meeting of EU farm ministers, Mr Fischler said that the Irish farmers clearly faced a "very difficult situation" and had a special case because the Irish and UK markets were very closely linked and badly affected by the cost of sterling.
IFA sheep sector representatives lobbied the meeting over losses sustained because the EU's ewe premium is paid on the basis of average market prices across the Union while Irish prices are rock-bottom.
"Irish farmers are being short-changed by £8.14 a ewe," IFA president Mr Tom Parlon told the Commissioner. "That amounts to a loss of £38 million per annum for Irish sheep farmers."
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, who raised the issue at the meeting, said that Mr Fischler had promised to have it dealt with by an ongoing review of the sheep sector.
Mr Fischler also promised to try to unblock the pigmeat market by ensuring that some 42,000 tons of pork destined for Russia as food aid is actually dispatched. Mr Walsh said that he was concerned at the plight of north-west pig producers who had been badly affected by a fire in a plant in Ballaghadereen.
