Farmers have ended a 10-day occupation of EU offices in Dublin over changes in the EU headage plan.
They won an enhanced package which will cost the Irish taxpayer an extra £60 million a year between 2001 and 2006. The settlement, which came yesterday, will involve the Government topping up the £120 million headage scheme with £60 million from the Exchequer, to be given to the 100,000 farmers affected by the changes from next year until 2006.
The Irish Farmers' Association had been fighting for the so-called 20,000 "losers", those affected by an EU change in the way payments were made to farmers in disadvantaged areas. It was altered from calculations based on animal numbers to an acreage basis.
And while 70,000 less intensive farmers stood to gain substantially, the more intensive operators in less severely disadvantaged areas and sheep farmers on mountains, were facing losses of up to £2,500 a year.
The agreement was negotiated over the past week following a series of meetings between the IFA leadership and the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern. The IFA suggested that the total pool should be increased so the losers would be brought up to the same level of payments as they had been receiving before the changes. Although it was agreed on Wednesday night, the announcement was held up until after Thursday's review of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness in case it would upset the other social partners.
Following their exit from the Dawson Street offices of the EU, one of the farmers said: "This is our first cut of the Celtic Tiger."
The protesters, who were led by the deputy president of the IFA, Mr John Dillon, went from Dawson Street to a meeting of the organisation's national council in Bluebell, Dublin.
In a statement the council noted that the new package met the commitment in the PPF that the income of farmers in the changeover from headage payments to area aid would be protected.
Mr Tom Parlon, the president of the IFA, described the Government's announcement of the £180 million package as "a positive response to an unfair situation introduced at EU level".
He acknowledged and appreciated the Taoiseach, the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, and the Government's handling of what he termed a very difficult situation which had arisen for low income farmers in disadvantaged areas.
In his statement, Mr Walsh said that the new Area Based Compensatory Allowance Scheme would be worth in excess of £180 million in 2001.
"This represents a £60 million increase in the amount paid to farmers under the Disadvantaged Areas Headage Schemes in 1999," according to his statement.
He said the new scheme was purely area related and involved an increase of £60 million annually over the years 2001-2006 on the current annual expenditure of £120 million.
This will be a major boost to farmers in the 75 per cent of the country classified as disadvantaged, he added.
Outlining the new payments, the Minister said that 80,000 farmers stood to gain from the new scheme and while some farmers would lose, the losses would be modest and the Minister has secured the agreement of the EU for a safety net system so these farmers could be compensated.
That compensation would be paid at the rate of 90 per cent of the loss in 2001, 80 per cent in 2002 and 50 per cent in 2003.
The £120 million package which forms the basis of the area aid payments involves a 65 per cent pay-out by the EU and the remaining 35 per cent, £42 million, will be paid from national funds.