merrion street

Shane McEntee, TD, Minister of State at the Department for Agriculture, Food and the Marine today spoke at the AGM of the IFA Offaly County Executive at the Bridge House, Tullamore, Co. Offaly.

Minister McEntee thanked the members for inviting him to speak at the event and went on say that his main message is that "the future of farming remains bright but that we have to plan and work efficiently as a sector to make sure that it remains so into the future". In relation to the milk quota system, the Minister commented that "when the EU dismantles the milk quota system, it will be the first time in 30 years that farmers will have the freedom to produce as much milk as they can without being penalised. The processing sector has started to gear up for this expansion and the same process is happening at farm level".

In relation to ash dieback, the Minister stated that he wanted to "take this opportunity to reassure all of you that my Department is doing everything it possibly can to prevent the spread of this disease. We reacted vigorously and without delay to destroy the infected material once the disease was confirmed back in October". He added that "he wished to reaffirm my Department’s commitment to tackling this disease head on and to prevent, as far as is possible, any further occurrences".