Irish farmers across the country have been called on to “have their voices heard” over the course of this week’s “town hall” meetings on the current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) formation.
Making the calls, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue urged farmers to tune in to three virtual meetings which will take place in webinar format across three evenings from tonight (Tuesday, August 10) to Thursday (August 12) at 7:00pm each day.
The meetings are part of a public consultation on the draft interventions proposed for the 2023-2027 CAP Strategic Plan.
Speaking ahead of the meetings, Minister McConalogue said he is keen to bring the CAP consultation process to every farmer in the country.
According to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), the townhall series of meetings will see senior civil servants in the department provide an update on some of the draft intervention measures currently out for consultation.
The minister said he will listen to the views of the farmers from the consultation before it closes at the end of the month.
Minister McConalogue said the purpose of the town hall meetings is to “provide farmers with the opportunity to hear from his officials on the current state of the CAP process”, adding:
“I committed to bringing this CAP consultation to every farmer in the country – and I am doing that.
“I have instructed my officials to provide farmers with an update on the current state of play with regard to some of the draft proposals on the table.
“Farmers can feed back into this consultation process and have their voices heard. Later in the year, I will personally lead a much larger and wider consultation process.
“It’s critical to note that no decision has been made or taken; I want farmers to feed in as much as possible. It’s their CAP reform,” the minister stressed.
“I said once the CAP deal received political agreement in Luxembourg earlier in the summer that I am committed to bringing this CAP deal to every calving shed, every milking parlour, every tillage field and every kitchen table and I intend on doing that.
“I have been engaging with farmers over the summer and using the feedback provided at the town halls, I will personally chair a large series of consultation meetings later in the year before we send the final CAP programme to the European Commission who must approve the deal,” the minister concluded.