Department of Agriculture analysis of the next CAP, revealed in today’s Irish Farmers Journal, does not show the full impact of the CAP proposals, the IFA has warned.

Its president Joe Healy said the analysis omits the impact of the €97m per annum cut which is part of the current European Commission proposal.

“This amounts to €678m for the seven years of the CAP programme, before the impact of inflation,” said Healy.

“The Irish Government must reject the CAP cut and insist that the CAP budget is increased in line with inflation and to compensate farmers for any extra asks on them as part of the new CAP,” he said.

Elephant in the room

“The Department’s analysis of the CAP proposals focuses on the elements of the proposals which will effectively redistribute money between farmers. The elephant in the room is the size of the overall budget,” Healy said.

“We need to keep the focus on this and not get distracted by a debate on how the money will be distributed. One thing is certain – the smaller the overall budget, the more farmers will lose out,” he said.

Budget

He urged the Government to focus on building support for a bigger budget.

“In 1985, the CAP made up over 55% of the overall EU budget (MFF). Under the latest proposals, it will be less than 30%. The EU are effectively raiding the CAP budget for other initiatives. This has to stop. Farmers cannot be expected to do more and more for less and less,” he said.

The European Council is due to meet on 17-18 October to discuss the EU budget for the next seven years.

“We see other countries setting out their red lines in recent days. The Taoiseach needs to tell the EU Council that Ireland won’t be signing up to the new budget unless there is an increase in CAP funding,” Healy added.

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