Michael Fitzmaurice TD says that the latest EU directive on the sustainable use of pesticides could “help to put small farmers out of business.”
Commenting on the issue Michael Fitzmaurice said “the rules and regulations will force many farmers to seek a contractor to do their spraying and the facts are that most small farmers cannot afford to hire a contractor and this is another piece of European red tape that will help to put small farmers out of business. Even disregarding the cost of this, the amount of paperwork which is connected with this latest directive is almost impossible to do and it is very unfair to have to ask small farmers to have to do it”.
“It is another indication of the EU strangling the life out of small farmers with red tape and unnecessary rules and regulations. There is not a month that goes by without some directive or other that are obstacles to small farmers doing their work. I would ask the question, where will it all end or do the powers that be in the EU want any small farmers in business at all” he concluded.