Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine Charlie McConalogue will begin a tour of marts around the country with the aim of speaking to farmers on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
The minister will begin the ‘CAP consultation tour’ at Castleisland Mart in Co. Kerry this evening (Thursday, September 16) at 7:00p.m.
Tomorrow, the minister will speak at Fermoy Mart in Co. Cork at 4:30p.m.
The minister plans to visit every county to meet with farmers and hear from farmers as part of the CAP consultation process over the coming weeks.
The consultations tour is part of the ongoing work on developing Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan. The plan must be completed and submitted to the European Commission for approval by January 2022.
“I look forward to meeting as many farmers as possible in the weeks ahead. I want to put farm families at the centre of this CAP. This is farmers’ CAP and I want to hear from farmers in every county,” Minister McConalogue said.
He added: “Earlier this year, I committed to bringing this CAP to every calving shed, every milking parlour, every tillage field and every farm kitchen table and this is another step in that commitment to farm families.
“While time is tight, there is still time for farmers to have their voices heard in this hugely historic CAP negotiation.”
Details on the minister’s coming mart visits will be released through agri, social and local media.
Farmers interested in attending marts during these visits are encouraged to contact their farming organisation for further details and necessary Covid-19 restrictions and responsibilities.
Minister instructs officials to apologise over ANC deductions
Yesterday evening, Agriland reported that the minister has instructed his officials to apologise to farmers who saw penalties owed under the Beef Exceptional Aid Measure (BEAM) scheme applied as deductions to their Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) scheme payments without being informed beforehand.
A spokesperson for the minister told Agriland yesterday evening: “The minister accepts that the way in which the department deducted money from participants who decided not to avail of the reference extension period was not properly handled.
“Greater sight of the process should have been given to those farmers,” the spokesperson added.