Unspent funding from the Fuel Income Support Scheme should be used to extend the scheme, the Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland (FCI) has said, in a letter to the Government urging continued support.
It is calling for the full allocation of the €100m originally allocated to support the agricultural and forestry contracting sector, to be ring-fenced for those sectors and used for its intended purpose.
With green diesel prices continuing to remain at elevated levels, the FCI believes that such an approach would ensure that the funding approved by Government is utilised for its intended purpose – to support the sectors experiencing the greatest cost pressure from the fuel crisis.
An extension of the support measures introduced in March and April of this year was also requested by FCI, as it said the exceptional cost pressures which led to their introduction have not abated and, in the case of agricultural diesel, have intensified.
Financial pressure
"Green diesel prices remain substantially higher than historic norms, placing continued financial pressure on farm and forestry contractors across the country; the need for targeted fuel support has not diminished – if anything it has increased,” FCI national chair Norman Egar said.
He added that as fuel prices continue to fluctuate, contractors will require ongoing support to cope with these operating costs.
"Any unspent funding from the Fuel Income Support Scheme should be invested in the sectors it originally targeted, by extending the scheme.
“Retaining the full allocation within the sector would provide much-needed certainty during a period of continued volatility in agri-diesel prices,” he said.
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