The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget “needs to be enhanced” and Ireland needs to get a “better deal”, according to Sinn Féin election candidate and the party spokesperson on agriculture, food and rural affairs, Martin Kenny.
Speaking to Agriland as part of our ‘On the campaign trail – General Election 2024‘ series, Deputy Kenny who is standing for election in the Sligo-Leitrim constituency, said the CAP budget has been “shrinking, shrinking, shrinking”.
“Ireland is putting more contribution into Europe now than it’s taking out of it that gives us a firm position to be able to look to get a better deal for CAP and I believe we need to negotiate a better deal to get proper payments from the European Union in regard to that,” Deputy Kenny added.
He also said that one of the pressing issues that needs to be addressed is the fact that farmers are consistently in the position of being “price takers”.
“There needs to be a way of ensuring that we can get a forward contract on price, that farmers can get a decent price for their beef, for their milk or whatever it is and that they know when they start off where they’re going to be in a number of years time or in six months time or whatever the time period is.
“It’s complex I know, I think the the another element of that is about the regulator which was put in place. The regulator needed proper teeth because unfortunately both the processors and the supermarkets have all the power in this whole system and we need to change that,” Deputy Kenny said.
According to the Sinn Féin election candidate it is also vital that Ireland “makes the family farm sustainable long term”.
He said that it is important that the government “sets out” what the plan is for farming for every sector in order to attract young people into farming.
Kenny
Deputy Kenny told Agriland that the nitrates derogation is “very very important for farmers particularly in the dairy sector and some other sectors as well”.
But he also raised the issue of the “likelihood of it being there in 20 years in time”.
“Until we can get our water quality up to the standards we need to get to, until we can get the investment in place particularly around storage of slurry – we need to have the nitrates derogation in place.
“We need to recognise that farmers contribute hugely to the economy in rural Ireland, but also to the ecology of rural Ireland that they are a big part of the picture and a big player when it comes to protecting our environment,” Deputy Kenny added.
He also highlighted the issue of farmland being bought by “people who don’t farm at all”.
“They’re coming in from other sectors buying up the land, farmers can’t compete sometimes in places like Leitrim and in the West it’s forestry companies that are doing that, in other parts of the country it’s big equine industry that’s doing it and sometimes it’s guys that own airplanes that are doing it.
“We have to recognise that the farmer needs to be given a chance to be able to expand and grow.
“When the Irish farmer is prosperous, the rural economy is vibrant because they spend all their money in the local economy, they spend their money looking after the people locally they’re buying gates, or they’re buying fertilizer they’re investing in their farm. None of them that I know are buying holiday homes abroad and flying over and back to them,” Deputy Kenny said.
Agriland‘’s ‘On the campaign trail – General Election 2024‘ series will also feature the Independent Ireland general election candidate, Michael Fitzmaurice and the three people who held an agriculture portfolio in the last government – Fianna Fáil’s, Charlie McConalogue, the Green Party’s Pippa Hacket and Fine Gael’s Martin Heydon.