THE Government has been accused of hiding behind EU bureaucrats and forcing sheep and farmers out of some hill areas.
The claim was made by Mr Michael Holmes, chairman of the IFA's national sheep committee, who said the Departments of Agriculture and Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands wanted to clear some sheep hill commonages completely.
"In some areas where commonages are deemed to be only 10 per cent degraded, these Departments are insisting on 100 per cent destocking," said Mr Holmes. "Such a policy is designed to drive sheep farmers out of these remote areas, never to return."
Mr Holmes said he was fully committed to tackling the overgrazing problem in degraded commonage areas but only if this was carried out fairly. The IFA would not tolerate the Government hiding behind bureaucrats and using "the heavy hand".
He said that under the proposed guidelines for an enhanced Rural Environmental Protection Scheme, the Department of Agriculture was demanding farmers with sufficient lowland and sheep housing destock to the same extent as farmers who have no housing or lowland, even though they were using the same commonage.
Mr Holmes announced a campaign against the policies starting with a public meeting on Thursday next at the Killarney Heights Hotel, Co Kerry.