Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue has been urged to “begin the long road towards a fairer distribution of direct payments” – and restart the internal convergence mechanism during the transition period between now and the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
The Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) has formally written to the minister, seeking this change for the remainder of the CAP transition regulation period.
In the letter, INHFA president Colm O’Donnell reminded the minister that he had “given a commitment to look at releasing the pause button on convergence for 2022 and that he would be engaging widely with farmers in making his decision”.
O’Donnell also highlighted that member states must inform the European Commission on an annual basis of their intentions regarding any changes to direct payment entitlement values during the transition period – and the deadline date for this is fast approaching.
Commenting, the INHFA president said: “The reason given by the minister to pause the internal convergence process for 2021 was because the budget and the legal framework for the transition period was only agreed in late November 2020.
“This meant that the August 2020 deadline had expired for informing the EU Commission of any changes to entitlement values for the 2021 calendar year,” he noted.
“The minister must use the flexibility in the transition regulation to begin the long road towards a fairer distribution of direct payments to all farmers.”
This is “something that the majority of Irish farmers have been denied for 20 years – and which now must be addressed by our minister,” O’Donnell concluded.
The comments come following news of the INHFA’s stance that Minister McConalogue should “bite the bullet and get convergence done”, following the agreement of a deal on the future of the CAP on Friday (June 25), with the organisation calling for a “full flattening through 100% convergence.”