Farmers protest outside Fianna Fail 'Think In'

Westmeath farmers joined in a 500-strong protest outside the annual Fianna Fail "Think In" on Monday in the Hudson Bay Hotel in Athlone. The IFA identified savings of 27%, or €439m, in the Net Department of Agriculture budget, which can be achieved between 2010 and 2012.While maintaining funding for all vital farm schemes. The IFA managed to secure a meeting with the Taoiseach and the Tanaiste Mary Coughlan after the protest led by IFA President Padraig Walsh.Speaking at a protest outside the Fianna Fail Parliamentary Party meeting in Athlone, Padraig Walshe said it was time for the Government to recognise that repeated cuts on the farming sector were deeply flawed and had to be replaced by a different approach that would assist farming through its worst crisis in a generation and allow agriculture achieve its potential.He said the savings must be found through a combination of efficiency and administrative savings and natural staff attrition. IFA has identified a catalogue of efficiency savings, which, if implemented, would reduce expenditure both at Department of Agriculture and individual farmer level. The value of these combined savings for farmer and DAFF is up to €80 million and include a reduction in on-farm cross compliance inspections,Undertake Nitrates inspections as part of overall cross-compliance inspection, use of trained technicians under veterinary supervision for meat inspection, and the extension of TB test requirement for animals going direct for slaughter to 18 months.