Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has said he is in favour of retaining the current CAP structure as a separate fund with two pillars.

“One of the things that frustrates farmers is the constantly changing policy landscape. I believe the sector would benefit from a period of stability and consistency,” he said, speaking at IFA’s CAP conference in Kildare on Tuesday night.

However, he argued that lessons have to be learned from the current CAP in order to “make things better”.

“We need to make the transition between one CAP and another much easier,” he said.

On funding for the next CAP budget, and its structure, the minister said that this will depend on the contributions that member states are prepared to make, and that’s “not an easy discussion”.

“There will be some of the newer member states who feel that they are not getting a fair share of the CAP budget, and this has been a consistent theme at the Agriculture Council since my appointment as minister. Reflecting on what a future CAP might look like, I think we need to consider whether its revolution or evolution that’s required,” he said. He will underline the importance of food security to EU autonomy and security and rural economies.