Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) president Francie Gorman hit out at the “kick in the teeth” to farm families that is posed by a planned cut to the CAP budget as he addressed the association’s 71st AGM at the Irish Farm Centre on Tuesday.
Speaking to the IFA’s national council, Gorman told his “lobby army” that the size of budget available for farm schemes is the “first issue to be resolved” on the CAP front.
“As net contributors to the EU, our Government has to insist that a huge portion of this budget goes to CAP and they have to insist that we get a greater increase in the budget,” the IFA leader said.
“CAP funding should be directed – and we made this point earlier on in the year – to those farmers who are farming the land sustainably, who produce food, look after the environment, tend to the livestock, harvest the crops irrespective of what age they are or where they are.”
The “ridiculous restriction” of the ‘cost incurred, income foregone’ CAP scheme payment model was another area singled out by Gorman as requiring movement.
“This restriction has effectively meant that farmers cannot derive any benefit from a number of schemes,” he said, calling for the model to be relegated to the “dustbin”.
The IFA leader slammed “suggestions by some” that CAP will be the source of funds used to finance farm-level actions taken to meet Nature Restoration Law targets, saying that any attempt to do so would be a “complete non-runner”.
Mercosur
The proposed EU-Mercosur free trade deal was the second big-ticket item addressed by Gorman, who said that the IFA’s focus has turned to attempting to block the deal in the European Parliament along with other Copa members.
The national council heard that this opposition bid will take Gorman to an anti-Mercosur demonstration outside the Parliament in Strasbourg next week.
In his address, Francie Gorman praised the unified approach taken by the farming sector to secure an extension to the nitrates derogation. \ Philip Doyle
He harshly rejected the notion that Ireland will “pay down the road” for voting against the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement by being sidelined during future EU policy moves, such as the post-2027 CAP.
“The idea, going back to Mercosur, that the cat-o-nine-tails is going to be out to Ireland because, democratically, we used our right to vote no to Mercosur is nonsense and we have to resist that, sticking together as a country that message has to be driven home.”
The IFA president referenced the extension of the nitrates derogation as a “good result” that was brought about through “collaboration with everyone in the sector, from farmer to processor”.
“Whether it is Mercosur, whether it is CAP or whatever, if we can stay united as a farming group, as a farming lobby, show good cause and then unite as a country going forward, we can get delivery,” he said.
Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) president Francie Gorman hit out at the “kick in the teeth” to farm families that is posed by a planned cut to the CAP budget as he addressed the association’s 71st AGM at the Irish Farm Centre on Tuesday.
Speaking to the IFA’s national council, Gorman told his “lobby army” that the size of budget available for farm schemes is the “first issue to be resolved” on the CAP front.
“As net contributors to the EU, our Government has to insist that a huge portion of this budget goes to CAP and they have to insist that we get a greater increase in the budget,” the IFA leader said.
“CAP funding should be directed – and we made this point earlier on in the year – to those farmers who are farming the land sustainably, who produce food, look after the environment, tend to the livestock, harvest the crops irrespective of what age they are or where they are.”
The “ridiculous restriction” of the ‘cost incurred, income foregone’ CAP scheme payment model was another area singled out by Gorman as requiring movement.
“This restriction has effectively meant that farmers cannot derive any benefit from a number of schemes,” he said, calling for the model to be relegated to the “dustbin”.
The IFA leader slammed “suggestions by some” that CAP will be the source of funds used to finance farm-level actions taken to meet Nature Restoration Law targets, saying that any attempt to do so would be a “complete non-runner”.
Mercosur
The proposed EU-Mercosur free trade deal was the second big-ticket item addressed by Gorman, who said that the IFA’s focus has turned to attempting to block the deal in the European Parliament along with other Copa members.
The national council heard that this opposition bid will take Gorman to an anti-Mercosur demonstration outside the Parliament in Strasbourg next week.
In his address, Francie Gorman praised the unified approach taken by the farming sector to secure an extension to the nitrates derogation. \ Philip Doyle
He harshly rejected the notion that Ireland will “pay down the road” for voting against the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement by being sidelined during future EU policy moves, such as the post-2027 CAP.
“The idea, going back to Mercosur, that the cat-o-nine-tails is going to be out to Ireland because, democratically, we used our right to vote no to Mercosur is nonsense and we have to resist that, sticking together as a country that message has to be driven home.”
The IFA president referenced the extension of the nitrates derogation as a “good result” that was brought about through “collaboration with everyone in the sector, from farmer to processor”.
“Whether it is Mercosur, whether it is CAP or whatever, if we can stay united as a farming group, as a farming lobby, show good cause and then unite as a country going forward, we can get delivery,” he said.
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