The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) has called for the capping of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Pillar 1 direct payments to be set at a maximum level of €60,000 for all beneficiaries, with no allowances for labour-cost reductions.
INHFA president, Colm O’Donnell was speaking after a specially convened national council meeting was called to analyse the EU CAP deal agreed in Brussels last week.
“The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, now has the flexibility to set the upper limit received by applicants at €60,000 with 85% degressivity on payments above €60,000 up to the maximum cut-off level of €100,000.”
“It is not credible to have a situation whereby beneficiaries can offset labour-production unit costs before applying a capping to these huge amounts of money, and Minister McConologue must ensure that this cannot happen.”
The INHFA president stated that this cohort of commercially viable farmers took to the streets of rural Ireland in recent weeks in a last-ditch effort to preserve the status quo and seek to deny the vast majority of Irish farmers from long-overdue justice.
Concluding, he said that 73,000 Irish family farmers have waited for over 20 years for a level playing field to be created by our legislators to finally put an end to the grossly unfair historical CAP payment system.
“This outdated system is no longer justifiable. The Minister now has the necessary tools to deliver for the majority through 100% convergence. He can achieve this through the use of the redistribution mechanism; front loading of payments; capping the upper level at €60,000 with no allowances.
“All farmers pay their taxes and support their local towns and businesses and there must not be a two tier cohort that gets preferential treatment from our government.”