IFA presidential candidates Francie Gorman and Martin Stapleton were in agreement at Monday’s Irish Farmers Journal debate that supports are needed to keep farmers on the hills.

“They’ve almost pushed them out of it,” Gorman said.

“What you need is support for schemes, like the Hen Harrier scheme, like the Burren scheme. We’ve got to back and make sure that we have supports for farmers in those areas that will keep farmers in those areas. If we don’t, they won’t be there.

“If you want to keep economic activity in the vulnerable areas, particularly with sheep and sucklers, you’ve got to deliver money into farmers’ pockets.”

Stapleton said that hill farmers need supports, not just on a once-off basis, like the BAR funding might have provided.

“These farmers need support on a long-term basis, for five- or seven-year plans. There will be no farmers on the hills in those vulnerable areas on the western seaboard without support,” he said.