Once again we have seen the quangos and cartels in control as the Minister has given in to them and the ICBF (Irish Cattle Breeding Federation) to get a 38 cent levy on every new set of cattle tags sold. The reality is that this is more funding for an organisation who have a lot of very well paid people. Also we are taking more money from the sheep and beef sector which is very vulnerable at the moment. Minister Creed and his officials seem to give their blessing to this carry on which is unacceptable.
The suppliers of tags will pass on this extra charge to farmers and we now see a situation where farming organisations who are supposed to be representing farmers have people sitting on the board on the ICBF are compromised. I ask the question, where do these organisations stand today? These are the people who should have stood up and be counted on this issue. In my opinion ICBF are in receipt of enough funding without farmers having to make these contributions to them.