Fianna Fail councillors representing the Dundalk and Carlingford area of Co Louth are to ask the monthly meeting of the county council this morning to support a motion calling on the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, to appoint an independent valuer to reassess payments made to farmers who had sheep culled during the foot-and-mouth outbreak.
The motion asks that the valuer "recommend adjustments which will lead to a fairer and more equitable settlement for all" and is proposed by the four Fianna Fail councillors whose electoral area includes the Cooley peninsula where the disease was detected.
"We are convinced the farmers have a genuine grievance. It is inexplicable there could be such a huge disparity between payments to farmers for stock of more or less the same quality. We believe there is nothing to be lost by appointing an independent valuer to look through the files, but it is important the valuer is not employed by the Department of Agriculture," said Cllr Seamus Byrne, who was one of those who backed the motion.
Meanwhile the Cooley Compensation Campaign has asked a senior official from the Department to attend a meeting of farmers in Cooley tonight.
A campaign spokesman, Mr John Elmore, said members of the campaign have been denied the opportunity to negotiate settlement proposals with the Department because of red tape.
"Have we become so entangled in a web of protocols that even in a crisis situation a Minister or his colleagues cannot dispense with formalities to listen to the cries for help from a people suffering from loss of their livelihood?" he asked.
Mr Elmore added that of the £44 million spent by the Government to date on foot-and-mouth the amount spent on compensating farmers was £5.7 million. "I believe we are paying a high price for the wrongdoing of others," he added.
The IFA president, Mr Tom Parlon, as well as the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, Mr Ahern, and Mr Seamus Kirk TD have also been invited to attend the meeting.