The Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) has rejected a claim that it make a submission to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) objecting to the Munster Dairy Producers Organisation (MDPO).
During a meeting in Newcastle West, Co. Limerick on Monday (December 9), MDPO chair James Doyle said that it had been “tough going” to put the producer organisation in place.
“We’d all things against us. When I state this, I state fact.
“ICOS put in a big submission to the department of agriculture to prevent this producers’ group [from] being set up. There was someone afraid of it some place,” he told the crowd.
ICOS
In a statement to Agriland, ICOS outlined that it is the policy and representative body for co-operatives.
“We have not made a submission specific to the Munster Dairy Producers’ Organisation and any such assertion is incorrect.
“In general terms, ICOS liaised with the department of agriculture regarding the recognition of producer organisations for dairy in Ireland, particularly with respect to the provision on the EU regulation which establishes a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products,” ICOS said.
“This provision ensures that the internal agreements within co-operatives regarding milk delivery are respected and are not subject to external negotiations by producer organisations.
“The aim is to maintain the effective functioning of co-operatives by upholding their established delivery conditions.
“The recognition of producer organisations is a matter for the department of agriculture,” ICOS added.
MDPO
In April, the department of agriculture granted official approval to the Munster Dairy Producer Organisation, which is Ireland’s second dairy producer organisation (PO).
According to James Doyle, the MDPO currently has around 300 members with a combined milk pool of around 200 million litres.
The MDPO chair told the meeting that it is currently a “sellers’ market”, adding that “every co-op in the country is looking for milk”.
“The one thing we own is we own our milk, and keep that in mind at all times,” he told milk suppliers in attendance.