Mayo councillor says reduction of national herd is a 'non-runner'

Ballinrobe based Fine Gael Councillor Michael Burke has welcomed the comments from Taoiseach Simon Harris last week stating that he does not see a reason to reduce the national herd in order to reach climate targets.

Speaking earlier this week Cllr Burke said he was delighted that the Taoiseach has come out and spoke on the issue.

"We as a country spent a lot of time telling farmers that they should be expanding to take advantage of the removal of dairy quotas and it is completely unreasonable now for any Minister to turn around and tell farmers that they need to reduce their stock numbers. Farming has faced a number of challenges over the past number of years and the inconsistent comments on the future of farming have caused unnecessary stress for farming families throughout the country.

"In our area of South Mayo, where we have some of the finest farmland in the country, farmers need additional supports to help them run their business and secure the future of the family farms not regulations and red tape from Dublin or Europe that only cause problems never solutions. Every business in South Mayo, even if they don’t realise it, are extremely dependant on the farming sector. Farmers keep the local shops going, they provide a huge amount of indirect employment and our towns and villages would be decimated if the farming sector was forced to reduce its output," he concluded.