Farmers have been heard 'loud and clear' says Agriculture Minister
Irish farmers "live or die" by international trade and many other countries would happily take our place if beef supplies are disrupted, the Agriculture Minister has warned.
Michael Creed has pleaded with farmers to step away from pickets claiming their voices have now been clearly heard.
While a number of protests have ended, blockades continued outside some meat processing plants with no sign of them ending.
At the National Ploughing Championships in Co Carlow, Mr Creed said it is time to acknowledge that there is "a bigger picture here" stressing that farmers want to sell their cattle and our international reputation is also at stake.
"We live or die by international trade, our domestic market is small, so therefore we export - nine out of every 10 cattle that get slaughtered here are exported. The majority of that goes to the UK market where we have built up over many years significant retail contracts."
He added that there is an oversupply of beef in the European market which is "competitive" and "cutthroat" as a result.
"There are many who would willingly knock us off the perch that we have in terms of those retail partners and contracts. So that’s the space in terms of the critical issue that we face now in terms of a tipping point in this debate."
Mr Creed said the voices of beef farmers have been heard "loud and clear" and they have been responded to in the deal that was struck between farm organisations and beef processors.
"I would say, to listen to the farm organisations that negotiated on their behalf. In any negotiation there is some compromise, there were things that were beyond our reach in the context of those talks.
"But I think there are immediate benefits. There are structural changes that can be overseen and delivered by the task force. And I would ask them earnestly to consider where we are at now, consider the detail of the agreement," the Minister said.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin also asked farmers to end the pickets but said it would not mean an end to the campaign.
"It doesn't mean the end of the crisis. There has to be very, very speedy implementation of the agreement last week and there has to be further measures and there has to be ongoing pressure to make sure that that speedy implementation happens and have a sustainable model for the beef sector and for beef farmers is developed.
I think the government was simply too slow and the minister was too slow in responding to this crisis because it wasn't today or yesterday that this emergency developed.
He said other income streams in addition to beef have to be developed to ensure the future of farming in this country.
"That relates to energy development generation, for example, it's a very poor return for those farmers with solar panels or with anaerobic digestion.
"There has to be a range of income streams in addition to the mainstream income lines," Mr Martin said.
