18/02/10

Labour Spokesperson for Agriculture and Food Seán Sherlock has warned that the announcement by Lakeland Dairies that it is to closing their milk drying facilities at in Co Monoghan, with the loss of sixty jobs, is a further indication that a Dairy Task Force is needed to address the crisis facing the sector.

Deputy Sherlock said: "Today's announcement only reinforces what I have long advocated. We need a Dairy Task Force to address the worrying decline in the sector here.

"The collapse of milk prices has left consumers and farmers wondering about the future of the sector. While the European Commission has taken measures to aid the private storage of milk this is currently only a tentative step and will not address the underlying issue of milk collapse.

"It is my strong view that the dairy sector in Ireland; the co-Operative movement and the Irish Dairy Board need to come together to assess the future potential of dairy production in this country and the structures that exist presently need to be overhauled to guarantee export markets into the future.

"There is a danger at present that the smaller producers will be swept aside once milk quotas are abolished in 2015.

"The Minister needs to establish an agricultural task force comprising of a cross section of agricultural stakeholder who will assess the long term future of the agriculture sector for in this country. "For too long agricultural policy has been determined by short term thinking.

"It is my view that the future potential of the industry needs to be assessed if we are going to compete for exports in the current downturn and more importantly how we are going to compete in the long term.

"The potential for job creation in this sector has to be harnessed and we need to encourage our agricultural graduates to seek opportunities to engage in agribusiness and be nurtured to become agricultural entrepreneurs and strong partners in nation building.

"Significant changes brought about by carefully will be required if the food industry is to be profitable and to prosper in the increasingly competitive and demanding market conditions that are developing.

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