The Green Party has said it was not aware of the letters sent by MEP Ciarán Cuffe to banking CEOs, in which he lobbied against them lending to farmers.

A spokesperson for the party told the Irish Farmers Journal: “Ciarán Cuffe wrote to the banks on this matter in his capacity as an MEP. The party was not aware of the letter.”

The letter, in which Cuffe said he was concerned at reports that “large loans are being advanced to young farmers to expand their cattle herds” has provoked a furious reaction from farmers and some politicians.

The Green MEP warned against financial institutions running the risk of “carbon lock-in” and ending up with “stranded assets” should they continue to invest in carbon-intensive sectors. Chair of the Oireachtas committee on agriculture, Fianna Fáil’s Jackie Cahill, has called on the MEP to withdraw his comments and apologise to young farmers.

Cahill said he received “countless complaints” about the letter, which he described as “arrogant, ignorant and stereotypically naïve”.

To write to banks asking them not to lend to a certain group of people in rural Ireland is dangerous and deeply insulting

“How any small business owners can be expected to modernise without access to credit is a standard example of the environmentalists’ naive views of farming in this country, and the key role it plays in the rural economy,” said Cahill.

“To write to banks asking them not to lend to a certain group of people in rural Ireland is dangerous and deeply insulting.

“Equating [on-farm] investment and improvements in farming for the future to something that is a negative thing, is typical of the naive and ignorant view of the environmentalists’ agenda, that we have sadly become all too familiar with in rural areas in recent years,” said Cahill.

Clarify

IFA president Tim Cullinan called on Green Party leader, Minister Eamon Ryan, to clarify if he supports MEP Ciarán Cuffe’s letter, which Cullinan said sought to “sabotage farmers and rural Ireland”.

they should be focusing on delivering low-cost finance options for Irish farmers

“It shows farmers that, despite all the guff about wanting to support them, the Green Party are in fact undermining farmers at every hand’s turn,” he said.

“Instead of this, they should be focusing on delivering low-cost finance options for Irish farmers to support better on-farm efficiencies to reduce emissions,” he said.

Banks on agri lending

The Irish Farmers Journal asked AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank to outline their position on lending to individual farmers and the agri sector, in general. Ulster Bank did not respond at the time of going to print.

Bank of Ireland

Eoin Lowry, head of agri, Bank of Ireland, said: “Banks have a unique role in helping to bridge the gap between finance and sustainability.

“To support our customers’ transition to a low-carbon economy, we launched a Sustainable Finance Fund in July 2019 and earlier this year we increased the size of the fund by €3bn to €5bn up to 2024. The fund supports our customers on their low-carbon journey by encouraging and rewarding energy-efficient homes, and SME and agri investment in energy efficiency.

“As a leading lender to Ireland’s agricultural sector, we are confident about the future of agriculture in Ireland and we are committed to supporting its transition to a greener footprint.

“We expect that there will be a requirement for continued investment in infrastructure that improves the overall environmental sustainability of farms. This includes activities such as slurry storage or low-emission slurry equipment, anaerobic digestion and renewable energy.

“There will also be an increased requirement to improve productivity and efficiency in order to meet the sector’s carbon targets and this will be enabled through investment.

“This investment may require an element of bank finance and we will continue to work with farmers to support their future business requirements,” Lowry said.

AIB

“AIB is not in a position to discuss correspondence between the bank and other parties,” a spokesperson said.

“However, AIB can confirm that it is committing major resources to assist our customers across all sectors in the transition to a low-carbon economy. The agriculture sector is a critically important part of our economy and our society and we look forward to supporting its evolution to a more environmentally sustainable future, in line with Government policy.”