Opposition parties have launched their ‘alternative’ budgets ahead of Budget 2022 tomorrow, with proposals ranging from a €300 suckler cow payment to expansion of supports for commercial horticulture.
Sinn Féin spokesperson on agriculture Matt Carthy said that Budget 2022 “offers an opportunity to address the imbalances and unfairness that have been the hallmark of Irish agriculture for decades and to finally put family farmers at the centre of agriculture policy”.
Budget 2022 ‘must begin to shift policy’
Deputy Carthy said that if Ireland is serious about protecting both agriculture and the environment, “then Budget 2022 must begin to shift policy”.
This shift must be towards one that “directs financial supports to farming families operating in the most sustainable sectors; rigorously pursuing a premiumisation model; addressing market imbalances; facilitating entry of smaller farmers to organic schemes; revitalising farm forestry; and promoting diversification”.
Sinn Féin’s proposals for Budget 2022 “would result in an increased spend of almost €220 million within the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, a 12% increase, bringing the total departmental spend to over €2 billion”.
The party’s proposals include:
- €300/head suckler cow payment;
- Establish an Office of the Independent Meat Regulator;
- Begin the work to secure a dedicated suckler Protected Geographic Indicator;
- An emergency €5 million ‘woolen sector’ aid package;
- Double the Sheep Welfare Scheme payment to €20 per breeding ewe;
- €15 million in new investment to dramatically accelerate conversion to organic farming;
- Expand places on the REAP scheme to over 11,000 in 2022;
- Increase the budget for Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) next year by €25 million.
Meanwhile, the Social Democrats said that Budget 2022 should be the budget that makes “significant shifts towards a more sustainable agriculture policy, with sustainable land management and shorter supply chains for farmers and consumers to form the basis of a fair transition for Irish agriculture”.
“If we fail to do so, we sacrifice the next generation of farmers,” the party said in its budget document.
It added that “it is time to stop talking to farmers as if they are the cause of the climate emergency, and instead acknowledge that they are one of the groups that stands to lose most from climate change”.
The party’s proposals include:
- Extend Stamp Duty Relief to young trained farmers until the end of 2026 and expand the relief to include all land transfers in registered Succession Farm Partnerships up to the age of 40;
- Extend the maximum age to avail of Stamp Duty Relief on the purchase of land to all young trained farmers up to the age of 40;
- Extend Stock Relief until December 2026;
- Ensure the Student Assistance Fund is open to agricultural college students;
- Expand supports for the commercial horticulture sector to include smaller scale producers;
- End the exclusion of participants in the REAP scheme from also taking part in the Organic Farming Scheme.
In Aontú’s pre-budget submission, it has called for reform of the carbon tax; that any shortfall arising from reduction in the CAP will be made up by the Irish government; and providing a feed-in tariff for the microgeneration of energy.
“Rural Ireland is under siege from a Dublin-centric government. Farmers, fishermen and the elderly couple burning turf are being demonised for their way of life,” according to Aontú.
“Despite beef exports in the billions, farmers are being forced to sell their produce below the cost of production and with reduced CAP payments.
“Post offices and banks across rural Ireland are closing year-on-year. Rural Ireland is withering on the vine, as more and more of its young people leave and the old ways of life die.”