THE BEST interests of farmers may not be served by remaining in the euro especially if there were to be a two-tier system and we lost control of our national budgetary policy, a meeting in Limerick heard on Saturday.
The outgoing president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association, Jackie Cahill, told the asociation’s agm in Limerick, which was attended by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, that he could see circumstances where leaving the euro would be the best option.
“At present 37 per cent of our exports are to the UK and the US, with 44 per cent of our imports coming from similar countries, and if certain parties are going to be blunt enough to ask us to choose between Boston or Berlin, then we should be blunt enough to cite some statistics back at them.”
He said even the trade figures underestimated the importance of the US dollar in Ireland’s trade; this was particularly the case in pharmaceuticals and in the food sector, which, in aggregate, accounted for 66 per cent of our exports.
“We do an awful lot of dealing in sterling, which is one of our biggest markets, and also in the dollar. If there are too many conditions put on us by the German chancellor and the French, we will have to examine all options and see if staying in the euro is the best option for Irish farmers.”
The Taoiseach however rejected any suggestion Ireland should leave the euro and told farmers the tools and flexibility to deal with the structural problems of the euro were in place.
“I believe in the euro and I believe in the euro zone and the future of the European Union and it’s against that background we will continue to make a very strong contribution to this debate,” he told the 300 farmers at the event.
The Taoiseach said the euro’s problems were like those facing a farmer when his tractor broke down. The choice was to abandon it forever or to get it out of the field and fix it and get more work from it rather than leave it to rust.
In reply to questions from the floor, he said he could assure farmers all EU leaders were committed to saving the euro, saving the union and saving the single market. They should have not doubt about that commitment.
Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney – who attended the event with MEPs Mairéad McGuinness (Fine Gael), Liam Aylward (Fianna Fáil) and Seán Kelly (Fine Gael) – said he had grave concerns at the EU proposal to make 2014 the main reference year for EU payments in the reformed Common Agricultural Policy.
Farmers had complained that more than a third of agricultural produce came from leased land and if 2014 was to be the base year for determining payments, these would go to non-working farmers who owned the land but did not work it themselves.
He promised to fight this proposal, as he would all other proposals in the reform package that did not take account of Irish farming conditions, which were unique in Europe and which were the most sustainable in Europe, if not in the world.
The farmers were warned by Ms McGuinness that the role of antibiotics in veterinary medicine would be coming under increasing scrutiny as part of an EU action plan to deal with microbial resistance to antibiotics, which resulted in more than 25,000 people dying each year in the EU.
She said overuse of antibiotics in animals and animal food had led to resistance to antibiotics in human medicines, resulting in the deaths, and the commission had a 12-point plan to deal with this.
The overall strategy was to ensure antibiotics were used appropriately in both humans and animals and there would be improved monitoring and control, including farm inspections. Ms McGuinness added that the new EU animal health laws would restrict use of antimicrobials, which include antibiotics, disinfectants, antiseptics and other hygiene products.