Irish farmers must be “at the top of the queue” to receive compensation under the EU Brexit emergency fund, according to the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA).
“Whether or not a limited deal is achieved, the impact will be a deterioration of trade – what is at issue is the degree of that deterioration,” Cullinan said.
Despite massive efforts at market diversification, the UK is the current destination for 38% of Ireland’s overall agri-food exports.
According to the IFA, that is “44% of all beef exports; 41% of cheese exports; almost 100% of mushroom exports; 60% of poultry exports; 33% of pig meat exports; 20% of lamb exports; to name just the main sectors”.
Brexit Emergency Plan
The IFA president set out the IFA’s ‘Brexit Emergency Plan’, which is “partly modelled on the EU’s response to the Russian ban on EU food imports in 2014, which shows the EU’s willingness to intervene in significant ways to support farmers faced with the impact of a geopolitical event in which they are powerless”.
“The value of EU food exports which Brexit will affect is eight times greater than the value of EU exports affected by the 2014 Russian embargo,” according to the IFA.
The value of Irish agri-food exports potentially affected by Brexit is 60 times greater than affected by the Russian embargo.
Cullinan said a Brexit outcome, which either reduces access for those products to the UK market or makes their continued sale onto that market uneconomic, will be “disastrous for European farming and the livelihoods of farmers”, particularly from Ireland.
Referring to the ongoing difficulties in reaching an agreement, he said the exit of the UK from the EU without a deal would undoubtedly lead to significant trade disruption and a lose-lose situation for the entire agri-food chain.
“The intense discussions to secure a deal must continue, but we must also prepare for the post-Brexit scenario. In that regard, the Irish government must ensure that Irish farmers are top of the queue for the €5 billion EU Brexit fund,” he said.
‘It will be the end of the Irish beef sector’
A no-deal Brexit scenario “will be the end of the Irish beef sector”, according to Cullinan.
“We are on the cusp of Armageddon for Irish farming. These talks cannot fail…if we have a no-deal Brexit, it will be the end of the Irish beef sector,” Cullinan said.