Colm O’Donnell, president, Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) has blasted the Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed for “his decision to direct payments away from farmers with the lowest per hectare values in favour of rewarding those with the highest values per hectare". He also said that the decision runs contrary to the basic European Union guiding principle “in that it’s their legitimate expectation to be treated equally as beneficiaries of CAP payments".
Challenge
O’Donnell continued to say that if the INHFA did not challenge the Minister’s intentions to pause internal convergence during the transition period, “serious irreparable permanent damage will be done to the future sustainability of up to 70,000 farms that are currently deemed either vulnerable or unsustainable by our National DAFM advisory service.
“In addition to this, if you consider the negative impact a convergence pause will have on the 30% Pillar 1 Greening requirements, that being the retention of Permanent Grassland. You could see one farmer with a Greening payment per hectare of €48 and another with a Greening payment of €210 per hectare for possibly the next 3 years, which is totally unacceptable and puts at risk future funding supports being pledged by European tax payer's for Green elements of the next CAP.
The farm leader stated his intention to challenge Minister Creed over the intended convergence pause and “fight tooth and nail” on behalf of all farmers potentially affected.
An emergency National Council meeting has been called for next Thursday, 19 December to advise members on a course of action.
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Colm O’Donnell, president, Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) has blasted the Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed for “his decision to direct payments away from farmers with the lowest per hectare values in favour of rewarding those with the highest values per hectare". He also said that the decision runs contrary to the basic European Union guiding principle “in that it’s their legitimate expectation to be treated equally as beneficiaries of CAP payments".
Challenge
O’Donnell continued to say that if the INHFA did not challenge the Minister’s intentions to pause internal convergence during the transition period, “serious irreparable permanent damage will be done to the future sustainability of up to 70,000 farms that are currently deemed either vulnerable or unsustainable by our National DAFM advisory service.
“In addition to this, if you consider the negative impact a convergence pause will have on the 30% Pillar 1 Greening requirements, that being the retention of Permanent Grassland. You could see one farmer with a Greening payment per hectare of €48 and another with a Greening payment of €210 per hectare for possibly the next 3 years, which is totally unacceptable and puts at risk future funding supports being pledged by European tax payer's for Green elements of the next CAP.
The farm leader stated his intention to challenge Minister Creed over the intended convergence pause and “fight tooth and nail” on behalf of all farmers potentially affected.
An emergency National Council meeting has been called for next Thursday, 19 December to advise members on a course of action.
Read more
Delayed CAP opens window for further convergence
EU refunds €13.6m crisis reserve to Irish farmers
Editorial: farm politics must stay focused on Brussels
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