Government must make good on any CAP reduction - ICMSA

It is already clear that agriculture has taken a hit compared to the previous programme period of 2014-2020, Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) president Pat McCormack has said.

Reacting to the conclusion of the EU's budgetary talks McCormack has said the Government must supply three basic metrics immediately to allow proper consideration of the funding deal.

The agreed budget is €1.074tn with an additional €750bn COVID-19 recovery fund.

“Firstly, we need a country-by-country allocation. Secondly, we need to know by how much Ireland’s overall allocations, under Pillar I and Pillar II, are down. Finally and most importantly, we will need to know how our Government intends to make up that reduction," McCormack said.

“We’re no better off nationally and in fact all we’ve done is sign off on an arrangement that diverts money from the economically most disadvantaged areas to sectors and areas that are often more economically developed.”

More for less

The ICMSA president said families have taken a hit and it is incumbent upon the Irish Government to explain how they intend making good that reduction.

“Expecting farmers to do more for less is simply a non-starter. There’s no point whatsoever in Ireland getting more funds under a COVID heading if we’ve lost the same or greater under a CAP [Common Agricultural Policy] heading. This money would have been distributed amongst farm families and through them into the wider rural economy” McCormack concluded.

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