Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has doubled down on his commitment to fight to maintain a ring-fenced CAP budget as he stated he has “grave concerns” around any attempt to change the current structure of CAP funding with two pillars and a dedicated budget.

Questions were put to Minister Heydon on Tuesday on the topic of a potential axing of a dedicated CAP budget beyond 2027.

Sinn Féin’s agriculture spokesperson Martin Kenny TD and Fine Gael TD Willie Aird both raised concerns with the mounting speculation that the European Commission will amalgamate the ringfenced budget for farm schemes into a single EU budget pot.

“Achieving an adequate and dedicated CAP budget and retaining the full toolbox of support measures under pillar I and pillar II will be challenging given the other pressures on the EU budget and proposals for new MFF funding structures,” Minister Heydon said.

Aird told fellow TDs that the risk of CAP losing its dedicated budget amounts to “potentially the most serious threat to CAP in a generation”.

“This move would be a dangerous mistake for Irish agriculture, rural communities and food security across Europe,” the TD said.

Aird warned that the minister that he “cannot come home without a CAP budget that is ring-fenced for Irish farmers.”

“Major decisions about the future of European agriculture must not be made behind closed doors in Brussels. Farmers must be heard.”

Inflation

The Sinn Féin agriculture spokesperson called for a reversal of inflation erosion of direct payments, stating that the reduced spending power of a stagnant or reducing budget for farm schemes particularly hits the western seaboard.

“Every time we have a CAP, we see the budget squeezed down a little bit. It has not kept up with inflation; it has actually reduced systematically for farmers,” Kenny commented.

Minister Heydon responded: “The point around the broader overall envelope and how much money there is to do this ultimately comes down to the appetite of member states”.

“If there is an increased ambition in defence and other areas, is the appetite there for member states to ask their citizens to pay more to be a part of Europe.”