DII to meet govt to 'look for solutions' amid fuel protests
Dairy Industry Ireland (DII) is urging a "measured and immediate" de-escalation of the ongoing nationwide fuel protests.
DII director Conor Mulvihill said the body will meet with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon tomorrow (Friday, April 10) to "look for solutions".
DII said any "further harmful disruption" to the Irish dairy supply chain must be prevented.
Pressures
While DII said it recognises the severe cost pressures driving the current demonstrations, the resulting disruptions are "presenting immediate operational and logistical challenges for our farmer suppliers, hauliers and processing staff".
"The Irish dairy sector operates on a highly time sensitive, continuous basis; milk is a perishable product that must be collected from farms and processed without delay," it said.
"Beyond the immediate economic and operational threats to milk processing, these transport and fuel disruptions pose a severe, growing risk to animal welfare.
"If feed production at our mills is curtailed and deliveries to farms are obstructed, livestock nutrition will be directly compromised."
DII said that restricted movement on road networks "severely hampers" the ability of veterinary practitioners to reach farms and respond to animal health emergencies.
"The welfare of our national herd is an absolute priority, and it is vital that essential feed, veterinary care and emergency agricultural services can access rural Ireland without impediment."
Meeting with minister
Conor Mulvihill said that DII understands the "immense financial pressures" facing individuals, transport operators, and businesses as a result of the current energy crisis.
"These are the exact same pressures our own processing workers, businesses and farming families are grappling with daily," the DII director said.
"However, the current protests are inadvertently placing the livelihoods of rural communities, the safety of our workforce and the welfare of animals at acute risk.
"A breakdown in the essential food and agriculture supply chain serves no one.
"We urgently request that essential fuel and agricultural infrastructure, milk collections and feed deliveries be allowed to operate unimpeded."
Mulvihill said DII "will be meeting Minister Heydon tomorrow morning to look for solutions".
"We urge all stakeholders to engage constructively with the government to alleviate these energy pressures before significant damage is done to the sector," he added.
