Ireland

Last Updated on Tuesday, 15 May 2012 15:52 Written by Communications Intern Friday, 16 July 2010 13:46

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TDs at Dublin's casinos to register their opposition to speculative trading in food.

The Irish section of AWEPA, which has over 130 members in the Irish parliament, is regarded as one of the most active sections. It has been active since 1984, which were the days of AWEPA's original anti-apartheid campaign.

Head of Section - Maureen O'Sullivan TD

Maureen O'Sullivan (born 10 March 1951) is an Irish independent politician.[1] She has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Central constituency since June 2009. She was first elected to Dáil Éireann on the 6 June 2009 in a by-election.

Deputy Head of Section and AWEPA Vice-President - Olivia Mitchell TD

Olivia was elected for the fourth consecutive General Election with 9,635 first preference votes. Olivia has been a TD for Dublin South since 1997 and has in that time been front bench spokesperson for Arts, Sport & Tourism, Transport, Health & Local Government.

In mid-2011, the AWEPA Irish Section elected a new leadership team in the Oireachtas, the Irish parliament. This consists of independent MP, Maureen O'Sullivan TD, as Head of the Irish Section, supported by Olivia Mitchell TD, as a member of the AWEPA Executive Committee. A new MP, Michael McNamara TD, has become a member of the AWEPA Governing Council, along with Denis Naughten TD and Katharine Bulbulia, two greatly respected Irish AWEPA members.

Feature Activity - World Food Day

TDs Call for an End to Gambling on Food

To mark World Food Day, 2011, a cross-party group of TDs went to one of Dublin's casinos to register their opposition to speculative trading in food.

The group, all of whom are members of the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA), called for a better regulated system of trading in financial markets which has led to increased food prices and food price volatility.

"Speculative trading in food commodities is a well-known headache to many farmers because of how it affects prices," said Roscommon TD, Denis Naughten.

"But what is not so widely known are the devastating effects of speculative trading in food commodities on Africa, where 13 million people are currently affected by famine in the Horn of Africa. "Food speculation is also taking money out of the pockets of Irish farmers by increasing the margin that the middle man takes – which puts further pressure on farm gate prices. "But in Africa, the effects of recent price hikes in wheat, soybeans and maize, inflated by speculative trading bubbles, have had absolutely terrible consequences."

Dublin TD Maureen O'Sullivan, the chairperson of the Parliamentarians with Africa group, added: "There must be a better system than speculative trading in foods, such as maize, which are essential to so many millions of people's survival. "That is why we are in the casino today – to symbolise how unnatural it is to gamble with pieces of food, or corns on the cob, as we know them. "Food markets are naturally subject to greater price volatility but vast increases in derivatives trading have greatly increased those risks. "Ultimately, this is gambling with millions of people's lives."

Olivia Mitchell TD, who is a Vice-President of the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa, added: "Speculative trading in food commodities is one of the factors which has caused a 'perfect storm' in Africa, leading to the devastating hunger we see today. "In a report earlier this year, the OECD concluded that only well-functioning markets could help smooth price fluctuations. "A more stable trading system of food commodities would be good news both to Irish farmers and to African consumers." Summing up the issue from an African perspective, Mbemba Jabbi, education officer of the Africa Centre in Ireland, said: "One of the best solutions is very simple – to set strict limits on the amount that bankers and traders can bet on food prices. "Governments worldwide are now under great pressure to reform financial markets and, on World Food Day, this is one of the most sensible, humane reforms that could be made."

Notes:

1. World Food Day is celebrated every year around on 16th October in honour of the date of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945. The World Food Day theme for 2011 is "Food prices - from crisis to stability".

2. A June 2011 OECD report, "Price Volatility in Food and Agricultural Markets: Policy Responses", endorsed calls for better regulated markets in commodity future markets by many NGOs and other international organisations.

3. For further information, please contact Simon Murtagh, Policy Officer of the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa (AWEPA), on 087 3238718.

Activities

The Irish section's members have set several campaign objectives for 2011-2012, including a special focus on upcoming elections in Africa, continued campaigns on fairer trade and greater aid effectiveness, and a new focus on land rights and land purchases in Africa. Full details of the Irish section's agenda can be read below in the "Update of AWEPA Irish Section Activities, 6th July 2011".

In recent years, the AWEPA Irish section also played a strong role in keeping Ireland's MDG promises by calling on the Irish government to minimise budget cuts to ODA spending. The devastating famine in the Horn of Africa in 2011 has re-focussed the efforts of the AWEPA Irish Section's members on the acute vulnerability of Africa's poorest people and on the moral imperative of defending ODA budgets. A recommendation to increase relief efforts to Somalia and the Horn of Africa was proposed by the AWEPA Irish Section at AWEPA's EU Presidency Seminar in Poland on 26 th July, 2011. This recommendation was agreed upon by all present and is attached below.

The AWEPA Irish section also continues to pursue a number of human rights campaigns on which it has focussed in recent years, most notably in Zimbabwe, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The AWEPA Irish Section has consistently asked what the economic and security factors behind poverty and violence in Africa are, and fully supports international efforts for greater Policy Coherence for Development (PCD).