Ó Cuív challenges Coveney to debate farm package funding

Fianna Fáil's agriculture spokesman Éamon Ó Cuív has produced an alternative set of proposals on how money should be spent under the Common Agricultural Policy reforms and has challenged Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney to debate him on the issue.

Mr Ó Cuív said Mr Coveney’s proposals were “flawed” and lacked objectivity and fairness. Under Mr Coveney ’s plan, the agriculture sector would receive more than €12.5 billion in Common Agricultural Policy and exchequer funding in the period to 2020. Some €8.5 billion of EU funding would be paid to farmers in direct payments, while more than€4 billion in exchequer and EU funds will be allocated in rural development measures such as a new agri-environment scheme.

The Fianna Fáil proposals call for an extra €610 million from the Government, up to 2020, for the rural development programme, including €285 million more for the Leader programme. Mr Ó Cuív said this would amount to 50/50 exchequer/EU funding as promised by Taoiseach Enda Kenny when the debate on CAP started.

He said the CAP agreement must maintain the family farm at the heart of European farming and ensure that all farmers receive a fair return from agriculture.

“The Minister’s preoccupation during the negotiations appears to have been focussed on preserving the interests of a small number of farmers in receipt of large grants based on historical circumstances rather than trying to secure a package that would sustain as many family farms as is practicable,” he said.

He said the new agri-environment scheme, which will be called Glas, would not attract applications because the profit would be too low for the amount of work involved. Under the scheme, farmers would have to do work such as dry stone wall maintenance, protecting rivers and streams and encouraging wildlife habitation. Up to 50,000 farmers would receive a maximum payment of €5,000 a year under the scheme.

Mr Ó Cuív said the conditions would also dissuade farmers on commonage land from applying, because 80 per cent of farmers on a piece of commonage land would have to apply for the scheme at the same time.