The Department of Agriculture must step up and compensate sheep farmers affected by COVID-19, ICSA sheep chair Seán McNamara has said.

McNamara made the comment following the announcement that sheep farmers in Northern Ireland are eligible for aid.

“News that our counterparts in the North are in line for payments of €7.60/head on some lambs and ewes is in contrast to the situation down here where sheep farmers have got nothing.

“My fellow sheep farmers and I have watched while beef farmers have been compensated for the market disruption brought about by the pandemic. Before that, we watched as beef farmers received Brexit-related aid in the form of the BEAM scheme.

“Now we have to watch as sheep farmers in the North receive compensation, which includes compensation for lambs exported to the Republic. It’s time for our own sheep farmers to be brought into the equation.”

Substantial top-up

McNamara is calling for a substantial top-up payment on the Sheep Welfare Scheme as a support for the pressures on sheep farmers caused by COVID-19 disruption and Brexit setbacks.

“Sheep farmers have been continuously excluded and this is very unfair,” he said.

McNamara also reiterated his call for a more substantial long-term package which would include a €30/head sheep payment in the next round of CAP and a strategy to deal with the disastrous wool price.

“We need a sheep taskforce to tackle these issues and to ensure that sheep farmers have some hope of a long-term future in the business.”

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