Allister meets industry leaders on dairy restructuring funding
15 April 2009
Traditional Unionist MEP Jim Allister has met with senior representatives of the Northern Ireland Dairy industry, to discuss the impact of a decision by EU leaders to reallocate 1.02 billion Euros of unspent CAP funds into Rural Broadband and ‘New Challenges’, which includes dairy restructuring. Dr Mike Johnston, Chief Executive of Dairy UK Northern Ireland, and Trevor Lockhart, Vice Chairman Dairy UK Northern Ireland and Fane Valley Chief Executive, attended the meeting.
The MEP commented,
“After lobbying for greater assistance at EU level for the Northern Ireland dairy industry, I am pleased that an extra 1.02 billion Euros is to be allocated across the 27 EU Member States according to current Rural Development allocations, with additional top-ups to come from Member States. Each Member State will have full flexibility to decide how these new funds are to be spent. While Northern Ireland is very much advanced in relation to rural broadband provision owing to considerable public expenditure in recent years, I believe our share of funds should be maximised for the purposes of dairy restructuring.”
“Over the past 6 months, we have witnessed the failings of our current product mix, which has resulted in unsustainable incomes for milk producers and processors alike. I commend the Northern Ireland industry for recognising that standing still is not a viable long term option, particularly as we look ahead to the abolition of milk quotas in 2015. While Dairy UK’s competitiveness study is now well underway, I firmly believe that these new EU funds offer a timely opportunity to enable necessary restructuring to take place. I look forward to continuing in my efforts on behalf of the dairy sector as more details of this funding come to light in the coming weeks.”
ENDS
