Dairy co-ops and their farmer suppliers contribute more to the Irish economy than multinationals such as Google, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Simon Coveney told those gathered for the official opening of Tirlán’s new Abbey Quarter headquarters in Kilkenny last week.
“When we talk about what’s driving the Irish economy today, we often talk about it in terms of foreign direct investment, the world’s biggest tech companies, but actually what [dairy has] achieved in many ways is more impressive than any of that because your reach is into every parish,” he said.
The former Minister for Agriculture said he is confident that Irish dairy and broader agriculture can continue to produce the same volumes of food and reach emissions targets.
He said scientifically measuring this climate progress the sector makes will be vital.
“[So that] when you source dairy product from Ireland, you know in a transparent way, the science around the sustainability of that story,” he said.
Nitrates
The minister said he is “very much” in favour of a continuation of Ireland’s derogation to ensure farmers can maintain their productivity, albeit he insisted this must be done in a sustainable way.
“We know that the limitations in relation to how we apply nitrates on land are something that we need to manage carefully in the context of the conversations that are currently taking place at the European Commission.
“We have a derogation in Ireland for thousands of farmers that we want to hold on to.
“We’re one of only three countries in Europe that actually still has a derogation. One of those other countries, the Netherlands, is planning to end their derogation post 2025. We don’t want to do that,” he said.