The blockade by farmers which has brought the £1 billion beef processing industry to a standstill will continue today. The IFA president, Mr Tom Parlon, has pledged to continue the dispute despite court injunctions against him and his organisation.
He said the dispute, which now involves the blockading of 30 factories by more than 500 IFA members, will not be resolved until the veterinary levy is removed and factories pay farmers 90p a pound for their cattle.
Nearly 5,000 workers face layoff next week as a result of the dispute which, if it continues into next week, could cause a meat shortage on the domestic market. "It is our last stand. We cannot take any more abuse from the factories which have been exploiting us for years. Farmers know that this is the last chance they have of staying in business or getting out for good," said Mr Parlon yesterday.
He said no product would be allowed to enter or leave the factories involved until the matter was settled. Farmers, he said, were decent law-abiding people but "they feel that they have right on their side. There is law and there is justice." The divisions between the two sides continued to widen yesterday with a rejection by both the Irish Meat Association (IMA), which represents the meat plants, and the IFA of a suggestion by the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, that they use the monitoring committee of the Beef Task Force to resolve the issue.
Last night the IMA said the monitoring committee set up by the Minister was not designed to deal with farmer blockades. The problems in the meat inspection service and related charges could only be resolved between the Department of Agriculture and the meat processors.
It said the dispute had been brought about by the illegal blockading of meat plants due to the Department's imposition of higher inspection fees which were controlled by the Minister for Agriculture.
Mr Parlon, rejecting the monitoring committee option, said the meat companies had not behaved honourably on that committee. Mr Parlon said he was available at all times to negotiate, but the bottom line was the end of the levy and 90p a pound for cattle.
As attitudes hardened, the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association threw its support behind the rival IFA, offering to replace on the picket lines any farmers who might be arrested as a result of the IMA court injunction. The case comes up for full hearing today.
The Irish Cattle Traders and Stockowners Association, representing beef farmers, called on its members to withhold cattle and join the picket lines. Fine Gael's spokesman on agriculture, Mr Paul Connaughton, criticised the Minister and called on him to intervene. The Irish Road Haulage Association yesterday urged all sides involved in the blockade to work to resolve the dispute.
The association's president, Mr Gerry McMahon, said that up to 600 hauliers who worked exclusively for the meat factories were out of work as a result of the closure of the plants.
Mr Walsh yesterday called on both sides to resolve their difficulties.
The Minister said: "I believe none of the issues are insurmountable. It is a matter of urgency to resolve the dispute."
The difficulties had been ongoing for some time, he said. He had established a beef task force last year and it made recommendations. "There is an essential lack of trust between the suppliers and processors. It is my understanding that the leaders of the farming organisations are willing to sit down and start talking. I'm calling on the IMA to respond," he said.
Mr Walsh ruled out intervening in the dispute.
Earlier, at the Joint Committee on Public Accounts, Mr John Malone, secretary general of the Department of Agriculture, said it was a dispute between the meat industry and farm organisations.
The issue over the meat inspection fee was only part of the problem.
The increase in the inspection fee was not one that the Department imposed, he said. The industry put in place a new system. He said the Department was prepared to look at how the system operated.