Sinn Féin TD, Matt Carthy, has labelled the measures imposed by the government to support farmers during the COVID-19 pandemic as “pathetic”
He said they are “far short of the robust financial package required to protect Irish Family Farmers during the Coronavirus emergency.”
He said that it is clear that the EU will not provide the required level of assistance to Irish farmers at this time and therefore the Irish government needs to introduced emergency financial supports.
Carthy said: “Such an emergency package must be directed at those farmers who need it most, particularly in the beef and sheep sectors, and it must be a simple, unbureaucratic scheme that puts monies into the hands of our family farmers who need it if they are to survive this crisis.”
‘Not the time for excuses’
The Cavan-Monaghan TD outlined that the pandemic has highlighted the importance of Irish farmers to both the economy and the community. He said farmers should be benefitting from the country’s advantage of being able to produce more food than we consume.
“That is an advantage that our farmers should be benefiting from. Rural economies will not survive if our farmers don’t,” Carthy warned.
“This is not a time for excuses or complications. This is a time to support our family farmers who, just as they were after the financial crash, will be pivotal in any recovery we experience after the Covid-19 crisis. They will not be able to play that role if they don’t get government assistance in the immediate future,” he concluded.
