Farm groups have met with ministers of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to outline their demands for the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Both the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) and the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) had face-to-face meetings with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue and Ministers of State, Martin Heydon and Pippa Hackett today (Wednesday, September 8).
A delegation from the ICSA – including its president Dermot Kelleher, general secretary Eddie Punch and rural development chairperson Tim Farrell – presented the ministers with its submission for the CAP Strategic Plan for 2023 to 2027, which it published last week.
Speaking after the meeting, Kelleher said: “The priority for Minister McConalogue must be to bring CAP payments back home to the active but low-income farmers in the beef, suckler, sheep and tillage sectors – which is where direct payments were originally concentrated.
“This is achievable through maximising the use of every possible avenue within the CAP framework,” he added.
Kelleher acknowledged that the ministers “have a complex task in dealing with all relevant stakeholders”, adding that he is optimistic that the ICSA’s views will be taken on board.
“We are encouraged that these proposals have been well received by the minister and his senior department officials,” the ICSA president concluded.
Meanwhile, the ICMSA said after their ministerial meeting that the decisions made on CAP over the next number of months “will essentially determine whether or not the Irish family farm model has a future”.
The association’s president, Pat McCormack, argued that CAP “has to be used as a support for farmers and not has a regulatory tool”.
“Hugely significant decisions will be required from Minister McConalogue and his colleagues and we are frankly worried by the government’s starting position which is that farmers will be forced to do more with less and less support,” he added.
“It’s up to the minister to exercise his discretion and decide in favour of fairness and progress.”
The farm leader said that the ICMSA made it clear to the ministers that the maximum level of national funding will have to be delivered to make good the reduction in the CAP budget and that the increased demands on farmers under CAP are met with appropriate funding.
The ICMSA is calling for losses through convergence to be kept to an “absolute minimum” with additional measures under Pillar I or II to compensate for this.
The farm organisation is also calling for an agri-environment scheme to cater for 70,000 farmers with payments of up to €15,000.
The ICMSA also called for dairy equipment to be included in the On-Farm Investment Measure, with a new investment ceiling of €120,000 with a 60% grant to all farmers.