The Beef Plan Movement (BPM) has questioned the role of the recent ‘town hall’ meetings in delivering a genuine consultation opportunity for Irish farmers, where the future implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is concerned.
Beef Plan Movement chairman, Eamon Corley explained:
“Having taken part in the department’s final online ‘town hall’ meeting, I unfortunately find it necessary to highlight my concerns.
“To me it seemed that it was a managed meeting that was designed to tick boxes to give the impression that farmers were consulted, rather than actually genuinely consulting farmers.
“Out of the 350 that participated, six were allowed to speak. While the department facilitator went to great lengths stating that he wanted farmers to get involved in the consultative process, farmers will judge him by his actions not by his words.”
Questions
According to Corley, participants were encouraged to type in questions on the night of the meeting, but none of the other participants could see these questions.
He continued: “Having talked to some of my Beef Plan colleagues that were on the call, the department chose to ignore any of the difficult questions that were asked.
“Let’s call a spade a spade – it was a managed meeting that lasted two and a half hours, where the department speakers outlined what they were going to do.”
Corley claims that the farmers who did speak at the meeting were handpicked.
“All six spent a large amount of their time heaping praise on the department, rather than asking the hard questions that needed to be asked,” Corley said.
“There were also statements made by department officials that were not permitted to be challenged on the night.
“The question as to why Beef Plan was not included in the CAP Consultation Committee was also asked. This question was ignored.”
BPM on CAP
Corley continued: “Beef Plan has put proposals and submissions into the department as regards CAP and the new suckler scheme.
“It remains to be seen if the department chooses to work with suckler and beef farmers and take their views on board.
“Gone are the days when many suckler and beef farmers trust the IFA [Irish Farmers’ Association] to represent their views.
“The sooner the department accepts this fact, the better. Farmers will judge the department by their actions not their words,” he concluded.