Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Approximately 800 people are involved in the poultry sector, at least 800 poultry farmers in the Irish Republic. These are all family farms run by family farmers and they are reasonably sized enterprises. They contribute significantly to their local economy and their value to local economies should not be under-estimated. The Minister has been in consultation with the poultry farmers and along with the IFA they would like to see a ring-fenced funding of €25 million over five years not for extending developments but to fund safer and energy-efficient use, improved systems for dispensing medication and for bio-security. Those are the areas they wish to have funded. It is essential for the survival of that type of enterprise that funding be made available and €5 million per annum would be money well spent and would provide good value.

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