The committee meeting took place in Stormont on Tuesday. \ NI Assembly.
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DAERA officials have calculated that the NI agri-food sector needs over £100m of emergency support due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking in Stormont on Tuesday, agriculture minister Edwin Poots said that the Department of Finance has been informed about the funding requirements.
“We identified over £100m [is required] in terms of dealing with the areas of this department which need assistance,” Minister Poots told MLAs.
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“That is almost certainly too significant for the Northern Ireland budget to deal with, therefore we are looking to the UK government and indeed Brussels at this point to see what can be delivered,” he said.
Minister Poots said raised concerns about dairy markets and pointed to the collapse of spot prices for milk in Britain in recent days.
He pointed to pressure in the beef trade, where significant carcase balance issues have arisen due to the collapse of the food service market.
Export problems for sheepmeat at a time when supplies of spring lamb are increasing was also mentioned by the minister.
The ultimate worry within the agri-food industry is an inability to process products due to factory closures or staff shortages.
Read more in the Northern Ireland edition of this week’s Irish Farmers Journal and at www.ifj.ie/ni
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DAERA officials have calculated that the NI agri-food sector needs over £100m of emergency support due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking in Stormont on Tuesday, agriculture minister Edwin Poots said that the Department of Finance has been informed about the funding requirements.
“We identified over £100m [is required] in terms of dealing with the areas of this department which need assistance,” Minister Poots told MLAs.
“That is almost certainly too significant for the Northern Ireland budget to deal with, therefore we are looking to the UK government and indeed Brussels at this point to see what can be delivered,” he said.
Minister Poots said raised concerns about dairy markets and pointed to the collapse of spot prices for milk in Britain in recent days.
He pointed to pressure in the beef trade, where significant carcase balance issues have arisen due to the collapse of the food service market.
Export problems for sheepmeat at a time when supplies of spring lamb are increasing was also mentioned by the minister.
The ultimate worry within the agri-food industry is an inability to process products due to factory closures or staff shortages.
Read more in the Northern Ireland edition of this week’s Irish Farmers Journal and at www.ifj.ie/ni
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