Sinn Féin TD, Claire Kerrane has said that the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was set up to ensure food production but now seems to be “going in a different direction”.
In the latest interview in Agriland’s On the Record series, the Roscommon-Galway TD said that climate is a big focus of CAP now but that it should be a different pillar, with food production remaining the sole focus of the overall CAP.
“CAP was set up to support food production. It’s now going in a lot of other ways, particularly around environmental, whereas I really think we need to see a separate pillar in relation to that,” she told Agriland.
“CAP needs to be retained for supporting food production; that’s really important. And we need to see new funding then, from Europe in particular, when it comes to supporting those environmental measures.
“If we had Mary Lou [McDonald] as Taoiseach, we’d be going out to Europe to seek more. Ireland is paying more now to Europe, we’re getting less back in relation to CAP; that shouldn’t be the case.”
Kerrane on the climate challenge
Deputy Kerrane said she believes the farming community is up for the challenge of adapting to ensure we meet our climate targets, however she said some farmers are concerned.
“Farming has changed a lot. It’s a lot harder today than it was. I mean, 30 or 40 years ago, you had your farm; you, maybe, did no other work at all and you could rear a family, you could rear seven or eight kids, just off the farm. You couldn’t do that today in a million years,” she said.
“It has changed an awful lot. Farmers are worried about the future, they’re worried about sustaining their farm in the first place; they’re worried about their children and encourgaing them into taking on the farm.
“A lot of farmers are barely breaking even. The cost of production and all of that puts huge pressure on farmers.”
The Sinn Féin representative feels that the only solution to reaching climate targets for the agricultural sector is to engage and collaborate with farmers.
She said the key to these negotiations is to ensure that farmers are supported financially to take whatever measures need to be taken.
“If that doesn’t happen, then we’re not going to get to where we need to be in relation to agriculture and I think that’s a message the government really [has] to take on board,” Kerrane continued.
“It’s not going to happen unless we bring farmers with us. We have to listen to them; they have to be at the table and we have to move forward together if we are going to achieve.”
Young farmers
Sinn Féin has proposed that if it were in government it would ringfence 4% of CAP funds to support young farmers.
The current percentage outlined by the EU is 3%.
Deputy Kerrane said: “We have to have that conversation in relation to succession; in relation to the next generation coming up, that’s really important.
“We have to have our young farmers, we have to support them. We’re in a situation now in farming in Ireland, and I know it from my own Dad, a lot of farmers out there don’t feel confident, they don’t feel they can encourage their children onto the land like they would have done previously.
“In previous generations, you were nearly just expected to, that’s what happened; it was the son typically and that’s what happened. But it has changed an awful lot now,” she added.
The Sinn Féin spokesperson on agriculture said that some farmers have no choice now but to “close the gate” when they retire as their children do not have an interest in going into farming.
She said that many younger people don’t feel they can make a decent living from farming, describing it as a “sad indictment” of where we are at.
“If we don’t invest in young farmers and give them the supports to get started, to make that a viable business, then we’re not going anywhere,” she stated.