Danny Healy-Rae Questions Plans to Reduce Ireland's Cow Numbers
Danny Healy-Rae told the Tánaiste that the Taoiseach and the Minister for Agriculture appear to be seeking a reduction in cow numbers in Ireland and questioned why farmers are being penalised after previous advice to expand production. He cited Brazil clearing rainforests to increase cattle, the unmet expectation of Chinese demand for milk, and stressed that farmers have invested time, money and environmental protections in their herds.
Main points raised by Danny Healy-Rae
He argued that government policy seems aimed at reducing cow numbers despite earlier advice to farmers to increase production. He referenced Brazil cutting down rainforests to raise cattle and said the expected Chinese market for increased Irish milk output did not materialise. He asked why Irish farmers are being treated this way after their investments in herds and environmental measures.
Response from government representative
A government speaker thanked Deputy Healy-Rae for raising the matter, recorded pride in Ireland's reputation for sustainably produced food, and noted that Ireland feeds multiple millions beyond its own population. The speaker also said Irish agriculture has a role to play in making food production even more sustainable.
Ag Climatise Roadmap publication
The Department of Agriculture was cited as the first department to publish a roadmap addressing how the sector will meet challenges and targets ahead. The Ag Climatise Roadmap was said to set out 29 clear points for navigating agriculture into the future and achieving greater sustainability.
Concerns for farmers' investments
Healy-Rae emphasised that farmers invested heavily following earlier advice and questioned the fairness of current policy direction toward reducing herd numbers. He framed his remarks around protecting farmers' livelihoods and recognising their environmental efforts.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
Tanaiste, it's becoming very clear that the Taoiseach and the Minister for Agriculture are now looking for cow numbers to be reduced in this country. At the time when Brazil are cutting down rainforests to increase their cow numbers, and even though farmers here were advised a few years ago to increase production just a short few years ago, they were told that the Chinese would drink a lot of milk. Well, we all know what the Chinese have done to snow. Clearly farmers have invested a lot of time and money in their herds and in environment protection. Why are they being treated like this? The farmers here in Ireland and all the people of Ireland are under the same sky as other countries. Why are farmers here being treated like this after all what they have been spent, have spent after being advised to do so? Thank you Deputy Healy Ray. Time is up. Time is up. Time is up. Time is up. Time is up. Time is up. Time is up. Thank you Deputy Healy Ray for raising this important matter and to put on the record of the House, the ambition that Irish farmers have in terms of, you know, first of all how proud we are of the fact that we produce some of the most sustainably produced food in the world, and we feed multiple millions more around the world than we do in our own population, but the fact that we know we too have a role to play in the area of agriculture in making our food production even more sustainable into the future, and I'm very proud of the fact that the Department of Agriculture is the first department to publish its roadmap as to how we will meet the challenges and targets ahead. That's the Ag Climatise Roadmap that has 29 clear points set out as to how we will navigate agriculture into the future and meet that ambition that we all have in making our food even more sustainable into the future.
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
