Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue has been called on to state when he heard about the proposal to "penalise individual farmers" for keeping more stock under the draft new Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme.

Making the calls, Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) South Leinster regional chairman Francie Gorman sought clarity as to who inserted the clause and when.

Speaking to Agriland, Gorman said:

"The idea that you’re going to penalise farmers for doing that - at a time when they’re trying to develop a premium beef brand for sucklers, based on the quality of the product and the fact that it’s produced to the highest animal welfare and environmental standards - is wrong.

"And then they’re going to bring beef in from other parts of the world into Europe that’s produced in the main to significantly lower animal welfare and environmental standards than us," the chairman said.

"We want to know who put in this clause at the last minute and was the minister aware of it?

Outlining his view that there was "scant consultation" with the CAP Consultative Committee on proposed clause, Gorman stressed the need to know who insisted that this clause be put in.

"We in IFA are going to oppose this tooth and nail," he said.

The consultation process needs to be extended - and the consultation process that they have from here on needs to be far more open and transparent, he added.

In relation to Department of Agriculture arguments on not offsetting environmental efficiency gains through increased numbers, the chairman said:

"I don’t accept that because the suckler herd is contracting either way. This is about the viability of individual farmers to keep their business viable and be able to provide a living for their families.

"If it’s about carbon efficiency, penalising people for trying to make their business viable is not the way to go – they need to focus on how we can produce our beef more efficiently at farm level," Gorman concluded.