IFA calling to cut Carbon Tax on fuel
The government should immediately review the situation and take a particular step in order to effectively address the surge in fuel costs on farmers and agricultural contractors, the Chairman of the IFA’s Farm Business Committee, Bill O’Keeffe, insists.
The reduction in excise duty - a temporary reduction of 3% - is totally inadequate, he pointed out, for agri-diesel has gone up by 50% and unless this is mitigated back to more feasible prices, the consequences are going to be very harsh for farmers. There will simply be no profit margin left for them, he asserts.
“The inevitable result of this current fuel shock will be economic inflation, and food is massively exposed to the cost of fuel and energy. Consumers need to be aware that carbon tax on agri-fuel is resulting in higher food costs and is driving food inflation on our retail shelves. Increases in food prices are already in the pipeline, and when consumers question this in the coming weeks and months, they can look at the government’s failure to significantly reduce taxation on the full food chain. Action today, by removing the carbon tax element of agri fuels, will head off food inflation in the coming weeks,” he said.
Read the full story in Kerry’s Eye Digital Edition.
Frustration at lack of crack down against dog attacks
The advance of the year into spring is one that all farmers look forward to, but it is also a point in the year at which some encounter an all-too-common pest, marauding dogs.
It came to the point at which the IFA found itself obliged to set up its No Dogs Allowed campaign five years ago in frustration at the failure of either governmental or local authorities to provide the capacities for farmers to prevent dogs from harassing their animals.
President of the IFA Francie Gorman said that the full rigours of the law needs to be applied to dog owners who fail to keep control of their canines when out in the countryside and at night time.
Read the full story in Kerry’s Eye Digital Edition.
