INCREASED staffing costs, inflation and the need to stay independent of any Government aid, have been put forward as some of the reasons why IFA members will have to cough up an extra €25 for membership this year.

Individual membership rises from €90 to €115 – an increase of almost 28% – while family membership goes up from €65 to €75 – an increase of just over 15%. The increases will come into effect in April of this year.

The increases were approved by IFA National Council before Christmas – the first ‘jump’ since 2019 – with outgoing President, Tim Cullinan, saying that the association needed the resources to ‘go toe-to-toe’ with Government departments, State agencies, processors and retailers.

“IFA is one of the few voluntary organisations in the country that operates without Government funding for our activities. However, we cannot seek funding from the State.  We need to be able to stand on our own two feet,” he said.

Galway-Mayo IFA Regional Executive, Roy O’Brien, told the Farming Tribune that while any decision to increase in membership costs would not be taken lightly, the reality was that the association needed the funding to have the people in place to deal with a huge range of issues.

Pictured: Roy O’Brien: Many challenges.