The closure of the Mallow sugar factory in Cork on Friday signalled the beginning of a campaign by the country's 3,700 beet farmers to get the maximum amount of compensation from the EU fund of over €300 million.
The Irish Farmers' Association has retained the team of legal specialists A&L Goodbody, financial advisers Deloitte and property valuers Finnegan Menton to pursue maximum compensation for growers.
The beet farmers have maintained that they are entitled to most of the compensation which will come from the EU for Ireland's exit from the sugar industry after 80 years.
Its president, Pádraig Walshe, told a meeting of growers in Cork that the Greencore group, which operated Irish Sugar, had taken massive profits from the backs of beet growers since the company was privatised 15 years ago.
The farmers have specifically targeted the €145 million which the EU will pay now that Irish sugar production has ceased and it believes that the growers, not Greencore, should be entitled to this money.
The EU regulations covering the payment of this compensation specify that negotiations must take place between the company, its grower suppliers, contractors and factory workers.
The compensation package is from the EU restructuring fund covering the economic, social and environmental costs of restructuring of the sugar industry, including factory closure and ending of quotas.
The fund is subject to the submission of a detailed restructuring plan for the industry following consultations between the processor and the beet growers.
The reform agreement provides that at least 10 per cent of the restructuring fund shall be reserved for sugar beet growers and machinery contractors.
That proportion may be increased by member states after consultation with interested parties provided that an economically sound balance between the elements of the restructuring plan is ensured.
Where restructuring takes place in the first year of the new regime, an application for restructuring aid must be made by July 31st, 2006 following consultations between the processor and the beet growers.
This application must include a detailed restructuring plan for the industry.
A decision on the granting of the aid must then be made by September 30th.
The EU Commission is working on detailed rules for the implementation of the restructuring scheme and it is anticipated that the relevant commission regulation will be adopted later this month.
A decision on the percentage to be paid to farmers will be made following the adoption of this regulation and after consultation with the relevant interested parties, and payment arrangements will then be announced.
The second element of the package is the diversification aid. The reform agreement provides for the introduction of aid for diversification measures, where sugar beet production completely ceases.
This aid is worth almost €44 million in the case of Ireland and the Minister for Agriculture has said this should go in its entirety to farmer growers.
The farmers are also entitled to €123 million in compensation for a reduction in beet prices.