Kathleen Funchion: Warns Sheep Sector 'Eye of the Perfect Storm'
Kathleen Funchion spoke about the acute crisis facing Irish sheep farmers, highlighting collapsing wool prices, rising input costs and Brexit fallout. She urged urgent, practical supports including a rescue package, an increased sheep welfare payment and a clear timeline for action.
Sheep sector crisis
Kathleen Funchion said many farmers, particularly those in rural counties, rely solely on sheep income and are facing severe hardship. She warned the sector is "in the eye of the perfect storm" and expressed fear that many small farmers could be wiped out without intervention.
Wool market and disposal costs
She described the wool market as effectively non-existent in Ireland, with wool prices annihilated and missed opportunities in alternative uses. She told colleagues that it now costs farmers more to share their animals and dispose of the wool than any potential income from wool sales, and criticised the feasibility study as offering no real solutions.
Market prices and processors
Funchion criticised the power of meat processors and factories in dictating market prices, saying farmers do not receive a fair price for the whole animal. She highlighted that sideline profits from selling parts of animals flow to processors and factories while farmers receive only a small share, and urged that farmers should not be expected to finish lambs below the cost of production without direct supports.
Policy demands and BAR fund suggestion
She set out specific demands including an increase in the current €10 sheep welfare payment to €20 in her proposals, noting the minister has committed to a €2 increase. She called for confirmation of a rescue package, a timeline with key targets and suggested the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) could be used as short-term emergency support, while criticising an allocation of €100 million from the BAR fund to meat factories and processors. She said officials must accelerate examination of supports and produce concrete action points and deadlines.
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Thanks very much. I am happy to have the opportunity to speak on this today. Actually, just this week in my clinics on Monday, I had members from the Carlow and Uncle Kenny ICSA in my clinic. So when this was on the agenda, I thought I would take the opportunity to raise some of the concerns that they raised with me. And as people will know, both counties of Carlow and Uncle Kenny obviously have a vast, a good mix, I suppose, of rural and urban. But there is a lot of people who are reliant solely on their sheep farming income. And as we know, and it has been said by my colleague, Deputy MacArthur, the sheep sector is going through a particularly challenging period. And while this might be recognised in words by the Minister and by Government, you know, words really is not enough. And at this stage, people really need solutions and they need action. Irish sheep farmers are in the eye of the perfect storm, because on the one hand, they are obviously contending with the fallout of Brexit and everything else that comes with that. Then they have the rise in input costs and the total annihilation of the wool prices. So I fear many small farmers will be wiped out. And that's what they're saying directly to us in our clinics. And in particular, that there actually isn't a wool sector in Ireland anymore. And just this week, when I was speaking to some of the local sheep farmers, the amount of, I suppose, opportunities that there is in the wool sector that they were talking about in relation to the various uses that we're just not tapping into, a big, big missed opportunity. It now costs farmers more to share their animals and dispose of the wool than any potential income generated from wool sales. And I don't think anyone could regard the price farmers get for their wool product in any way could be considered fair trading. We can't keep expecting farmers to finish lambs at below the cost of production and without direct supports. Farmers are asking me what is the point in awaiting the publication of the feasibility study in Ireland's wool sector, as I don't feel the report proposed any real solutions. And I'd have to say I would see their point in relation to this. My colleague has mentioned Brexit, and this is undoubtedly having an impact on our farmers here. And while Brexit and the non-existent wool sector present their own difficulties, another pressure point relates to market prices, which we know are dictated by the all-powerful meat processors and factories. So the reality is that farmers do not get a fair price for the whole animal. There are international markets, meat factories and processors that sell every single part of the animal into, but farmers don't see any of these sideline profits. And as somebody that doesn't come from an agricultural background, what I always say to people who are in a similar situation to myself, if you actually just go into a butcher's or supermarket and look at the price of meat, and then when you hear what the actual farmers are getting for it, you could not say how deeply unfair it is. So I make that point because you don't have to be an expert necessarily in this field to understand that farmers are being treated very unfairly. Despite the sector crying out for assistance and for a level of resilience building and policy emanating from the department, farmers have been left wanting and waiting. They are looking for an increase in the paltry 10 euro sheep welfare payment. We have committed, as my colleague has already said, to increase this payment in our proposals to 20 euro, and the Minister has committed, I think, to a 2 euro. We need confirmation on what rescue package there will be for the sector. Shoe farmers need direct supports and a clear pathway to ensure the viability of the sector. It has been suggested by people that I have met that the Brexit adjustment reserve or bar fund could be used in the short term as an emergency support package. The allocation of 100 million from the bar fund to meat factories and processors is a particularly bitter pill for small sheep farmers to swallow. I believe that officials in the department have been instructed to examine potential supports for sheep farmers. We need to see an acceleration in action and a timeline. I think that is one of the key things here. Actual action points and a timeline with key targets to improve the sustainability of the sector. So that it is not decimated and we are in very real fear of that happening. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
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