Representatives from Bord Bia, the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) and Positive Farmers will appear before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture on Tuesday as it continues a series of hearings to assess the outlook of the dairy sector in 2015.

Speaking ahead of their appearance, Committee Chairman Andrew Doyle said with milk quotas being abolished in April, tomorrow’s meeting will further enhance Committee understanding of the current trends in the industry".

"To commence the series of hearings last month, we heard from the Irish Dairy Board that 2015 is likely to be a difficult year, with the favourable weather conditions in dairy producing regions worldwide increasing supply and weakening prices."

However, despite these challenges in the short term, we were told that Ireland’s grass fed dairy sector enjoys significant advantages, both in terms of competitiveness and quality, to gain in the longer term," he said.

This meeting takes place at 2pm on Tuesday in Committee Room at 3 o'clock.