DEAR SIR: In relation to the next CAP deal, the one major issue that has never been addressed in my eyes is index-linking it to inflation. Whatever deal we get now, good or bad, will be hugely reduced in monetary value by 2028. Imagine a civil servant being told their pay will remain the same or even reduce in the next 10 years? Sadly CAP is a hard sell to people outside agriculture, but if a study was done on the overall contribution of the agricultural industry to Ireland’s economy as a whole, I think they would realise it’s massive.

I do agree that minimum stocking rates should be looked at and greatly increased to help stamp out big spreads of land being tied up in paper farming.