What does PAC Ireland do?

When asked ‘what does PAC Ireland do?’ I have no hesitation in highlighting our achievements, often accomplished against the odds. These are successes that not only protected agricultural contractors’ businesses but also saved them considerable amounts of money. Having recently read some political biographies, I noticed a common thread: if you don’t blow your own trumpet, no one else will. So, let’s have a look at how PAC Ireland came about.
It all started with the Irish Association of Agricultural Contractors (IAAC), a small group based in the northeast of Ireland. One of the issues that brought them together was the rampant black economy, which they thought could be solved by general agreement to charge the same prices. Because membership of IAAC was open to all, it didn’t take long for those operating in the black economy to promptly undercut the agreed prices. The group also wanted a higher profile and better coverage by the Irish Farmers Journal, which was then seen as the farmers’ bible.
Our first meetings were boisterous. Members felt excluded and unheard with many genuine grievances. High on the agenda was a meeting with the minister. From experience we knew that meeting any minister with a shopping basket of issues was not on and could damage credibility. We had to get our house in order first.
So, to start, we advised that price fixing was in fact illegal. Before we went anywhere, we must ensure that our members were above board so Professional Agricultural Contractors of Ireland (PAC) was born and members had to verify they were VAT registered, tax compliant, and have appropriate insurance in place. Meetings with various ministers and Government departments would be for serious issues only.

Success

Major successes should not be forgotten. The tax claw back on written down machinery, left contractors and farmers with tax bills often exceeding €50,000. All the farming organisations met with revenue where they agreed a revised retrospective implementation date. PAC did not accept this date and fought on in isolation. With the help of Jimmy Deenihan, we got a meeting with the late Hugh Coveney, Minster of State at the Department of Finance. To cut a long story short, a new date for implementation was agreed that was not back dated. This saved agricultural contractors and farmers hundreds of thousands in tax bills. An article in the Irish Farmers Journal at the time seemed to imply that credit for this was down to all the farming organisations, but following a meeting, iwas accepted that it was PAC – and only PAC – that kept up the fight.

Other wins

Our next big milestone related to the loss of the sugar beet industry. Farmers were to be compensated but agricultural contractors, who had considerable investment in now redundant equipment, were not. PAC insisted that contractors should be compensated and after seven days in the high court, PAC won a judgement of €7,500,000 for agricultural contractors in compensation.
When waste permits were introduced by the Department of the Environment, PAC negotiated with officials for days persuading them to withdraw a Statutory Instrument (S.I.), which was detrimental to contractors. We then participated in re-writing the S.I. Without PAC’s intervention and ability to work quietly with officials, contractors would have been at great financial loss.
There have been regular attempts by both the European Commission and the Road Safety Authority to require tractors that are used by contractors to have a tachograph fitted. The Department of Transport commissioned legal advice that judged agricultural contracting to be a service industry. If this were allowed to stand, it would have resulted in contractors having to fit tachographs and being prevented from using marked fuel. Again, the quiet, courteous, diplomatic negotiations between the department and PAC paid off and the idea was scrapped.
PAC Ireland’s approach has always been not to negotiate by banging the table, never try to embarrass officials if they get it wrong, but to work together to resolve any problems. I believe this is why PAC is respected as an organisation and why its contribution is welcome on so many national committees. Our members know they are only a phone call away from confidential, honest, hands-on advice. I hope I’ve blown the trumpet loudly for PAC.