Contractors call for entire fuel scheme budget to stay in agri-sector
The body representing the contractor sector in Ireland has called for the full budget of €100 million for the Fuel Income Support Scheme to be kept within the agri-sector.
The Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland (FCI) has said it has written to the government, calling on it to ensure that the full allocation is "used for its intended purpose".
The scheme's budget of €100 million was divided up between a maximum allocation of €85 million for farmers and contractors (who work in both farming and forestry); and a maximum allocation of €15 million for the fisheries and aquaculture sector.
However, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine confirmed last month that the total final payout for farmers and contractors will only amount to around €27 million, leaving almost €60 million of the scheme's allocation unspent for those sectors.
The FCI said that, with green diesel prices remaining at elevated levels, the unspent funds should be used to extend the scheme.
According to the association, this approach would ensure that the funding approved by government is used for its intended purpose of supporting "the sectors experiencing the greatest pressure from the fuel crisis".
The FCI said it has also requested an extension of other fuel price measures introduced earlier this year, with the association saying that "the exceptional cost pressures which led to their introduction have not abated and, in the case of agricultural diesel, have intensified".
Norman Egar, national chairperson of the FCI, commented: "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 is has increased.
"Contractors play a vital role in supporting Ireland's farming and forestry sectors. As fuel prices continue to fluctuate, contractors will require ongoing support to cope with these exceptional operating costs," Egar said.
He added: "Any unspent funding from the Fuel Income Support Scheme should be invested in the sectors it originally targeted, by extending the scheme."
According to the FCI national chairperson, retaining the full allocation within the sector "would provide much-needed certainty during a period of continued volatility in agri-diesel prices".
