The number of commercial mushroom growers in the Irish Republic has fallen from 504 in 2000 to just 84, parliament in Dublin has been told.
Agriculture minister Brendan Smith, who supplied the information, acknowledged that the industry was experiencing difficulty in its main market - the UK - because of sterling’s continued weakness against the euro.
However, he insisted that the dramatic decline in the number of growers was due to consolidation in a bid to reduce costs, and that “the level of output has remained relatively stable”.
But Seymour Crawford, a member of the main opposition party, Fine Gael, who raised the issue in parliament, disagreed. He represents a Cavan-Monaghan constituency, the heart of the mushroom sector, and claims that growers are not consolidating, “they are simply being forced out by the economics of their situation”.
Margins have been wiped out by the sterling collapse, according to Crawford, and with the banks in trouble, there is no credit available. “What is happening is what Thomas Martin - chief executive of Commercial Mushroom Producers - predicted some months ago. People are opting out of the industry, maybe temporarily, because they can no longer sustain the losses,” he said.
Crawford has called for the minister “to be much more aggressive” in providing financial support to an industry that is worth €100 million (£89.4m) to the Irish economy. “We seem to roll over when the EU tells us that we can’t offer support because it’s anti-competitive. But other member states aren’t so compliant when it comes to defending their industries and their jobs, and we should do likewise,” he said.
In parliament, Smith said he was satisfied “every support possible” was being given to the sector through national and EU schemes. His department had paid out, or approved, grants of more than €7m in recent times to help fund investments by growers. In addition, he said, the EU producer organisation scheme offered vital support.
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