Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue believes that he brought the best possible Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) deal back from Brussels, given the constraints that confronted him during last week’s final negotiations.

In a sit-down interview with Agriland this week, the minister said:

“No country was going to get everything it wanted from the discussions. It was always going to be a question of compromise. Three EU institutions were involved in the final deliberations – the [European] Commission, the European Parliament and representatives from 27 EU member states. 

“There were also a number of core issues within CAP that could not be fundamentally changed – convergence, the implementation of the new eco scheme and redistribution.

“My overall objective was to secure a final deal that gave Ireland as much flexibility as possible in determining its own affairs moving forward. I believe strongly that such an outcome has been achieved.”

Increase in CAP funding

McConalogue confirmed that the CAP funding now available to Ireland represents a small increase on what was previously in place.

“The agreed figure is €10.77 billion, which will be drawn down over the next seven years. At one stage in the negotiations, it looked as if Ireland would be facing into the prospect of a cut in CAP funding,” the minister continued.

“It took the personal intervention of the Taoiseach to turn this matter around.”

McConalogue also confirmed that enhanced opportunities now exist for Ireland to co-fund a number of Pillar II measures at national level.

While not committing to an actual figure, the minister said that he would be pushing to ensure that the maximum level of co-funding is made available to Irish agriculture. 

He also flagged up the envisaged use of monies secured by way of the Carbon Tax as an additional funding stream for Irish agriculture.

Basic Payment cuts

Minister McConalogue refuted the suggestion that the new CAP measures would result in significant basic payment cuts, with family farms taking the brunt of these reductions.

He said: “In the first instance, the actual CAP budget has been increased. In addition, the maximum basic payment per farm will be decreased from €150,000 to €66,000 over the coming years.”

The minister inferred that such changes will preferentially benefit smaller, family farms.

He added: “Ireland is very lucky, given the fact that family farms constitute the backbone of the agricultural industry. The average support drawn down from CAP, covering both pillars, is currently in the region of €17,000 per business; we are a nation of small farms.”

‘Active farmers’

The minister also made it very clear to Agriland that he wants CAP monies go to those farmers actually producing the food and managing the land.

While he wouldn’t be drawn on what constitutes an ‘active farmer’ or a ‘genuine farmer’, he confirmed that there continues to be sensitivity around the issue of entitlement leasing in this country.

But the minister also made it clear that change is coming in the way that the CAP will be implemented over the coming years.   

Given this reality, he wants to secure maximum buy-in from all farm industry stakeholder groups as Ireland’s national CAP implementation plan is developed over the coming months.

He believes that the flexibility, which can be built into this process, is at the very heart of the agreement that be brought back from Brussels last week. The full detail of the national plan must be agreed before the end of this year.

Commenting on the overarching impact of the new CAP deal, Minister McConalgue said that it would secure Irish farm incomes over the next seven years.

He went on to specifically highlight the procurement of additional core funding from Brussels as a key driver in this regard.