Allister lambasts Executive failure to compensate dioxin farmers
16 January 2009
Traditional Unionist MEP Jim Allister has criticised the Executive’s failure to address the key issue of compensation for farmers caught up in the dioxin scare.
The MEP said,
“Despite the gloss, the Executive has failed to address the key issue -which is the devastating losses set to be inflicted on a number of beef farmers who have had their herds condemned through no fault of their own. The offer by the Executive to pay for disposal costs acts only to absolve Government of its statutory duty to assist the farmers in question –it offers no help in safeguarding those livelihoods which are set to be destroyed.”
“I am sceptical of a successful outcome coming out of the Executive’s efforts to make the Southern Irish compensation scheme accessible to Northern Ireland producers and processors. The fact remains that the Irish scheme has only been approved for those suffering loss as a result of the dioxin crisis within that Member State, and has not secured EU approval to be transferable to producers in another Member State.”
“The Executive should have provided compensation to the farmers in question, while, if their efforts to recoup these costs from the Irish Government come good over time, well and good. The decline of compensation has left these farmers with nowhere to go.”
ENDS
