Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has created yet another green gravy train in the form of the project teams which his Department intends to assign to the regions earmarked for the new Agri-Environment Climate Measure (AECM), according to the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA).
ICMSA president Pat McCormack said it is “perfectly obvious” that the new scheme will involve “yet another layer of consultants” who will be “drawing down hefty fees from funding that could, and should, be reserved for active farmers and for addressing the environmental objectives of those farmers”.
McCormack was speaking in response to the details of the new AECM first revealed by the Irish Farmers Journal on Thursday.
He accused the Government of “talking out of both sides of its mouth on environmental matters” by “speaking about the challenges” and then not being “prepared to put the necessary funding in place to address these challenges”.
Consultant farmer
McCormack said that the structure proposed for the AECM has “smoothly inserted” another level into what he described as a “State consultant farmer” model that was “already siphoning off huge sums from funds intended for farmers”.
McCormack said funding is being directed at hobby farmers rather than those producing food. \ Claire Nash
In a charged statement, the Tipperary farmer called on Minister McConalogue to spell out the estimated budget for consultant fees associated with all schemes in Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan.
“We reckon the consultants’ fees look set to skyrocket compared to the previous periods and all [will be] at the expense of family farms who continue to see their payments undermined and cut.”
Environmental movement
The ICMSA president said the association is now wondering who will be on the “project teams” for the AECM.
“I can almost guarantee that they will be drawn to a significant extent from the most vociferous elements of the environmental movement and that all will have degrees of connection to groups that are already on the record as being critical of commercial farming.”
He highlighted concerns that such individuals will “take it upon themselves to undermine and eliminate commercial farming from the areas in which they operate”.
He asked: “What exactly are these teams bringing to the work that wasn’t to be found in the Department of the Environment, Parks and Wildlife, EPA or the Department of Agriculture?
“To be honest, from [the] ICMSA’s view, this looks uncomfortably like a green gravy train for supporters and friends.”
Convergence
Pat McCormack also said he is “scathing” about the fact that the AECM is “bluntly targeted” at those areas that have “already done very well out of convergence”.
He said it is unfair that “possibly up to 50% of the budget will go to a small proportion of the country and that landowners, rather than farmers, will qualify for payments”.
He queried why these landowners could get a maximum payment of €10,000, while farmers in other areas, even in the unlikely event that they can qualify for the scheme, only qualify for a maximum of €7,000.
He also criticised the limit of 30,000 placed on the number of participants which will be permitted in the scheme for the rest of the country.
“There are environmental objectives to be met right across the country and there should be equal treatment in relation to access to these schemes. Levels of administration should be kept to a minimum rather than adding another layer of highly questionable effectiveness,” he said.
Hobby farming
The ICMSA president warned that there cannot be a “diversion of funding away from commercial to either hobby farming or people who just own land and don’t farm at all”.
“We can expect to see a sudden interest in acquiring land in these areas and that doesn’t seem to bother those with responsibility for oversight.
"[The] ICMSA has warned repeatedly that we are moving away from supporting food production to, effectively, land stewardship.
“We have listened very closely to people on the environmental challenges and we’ve put forward constructive proposals in relation to this. What we seem to have ended up with, however, is a scheme to reward the consultant professionals and owners of land rather than farmers.”
Read more
Project teams to lead AECM co-operation measures
Revealed: locations of priority farms for €10,000 CAP scheme
Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has created yet another green gravy train in the form of the project teams which his Department intends to assign to the regions earmarked for the new Agri-Environment Climate Measure (AECM), according to the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA).
ICMSA president Pat McCormack said it is “perfectly obvious” that the new scheme will involve “yet another layer of consultants” who will be “drawing down hefty fees from funding that could, and should, be reserved for active farmers and for addressing the environmental objectives of those farmers”.
McCormack was speaking in response to the details of the new AECM first revealed by the Irish Farmers Journal on Thursday.
He accused the Government of “talking out of both sides of its mouth on environmental matters” by “speaking about the challenges” and then not being “prepared to put the necessary funding in place to address these challenges”.
Consultant farmer
McCormack said that the structure proposed for the AECM has “smoothly inserted” another level into what he described as a “State consultant farmer” model that was “already siphoning off huge sums from funds intended for farmers”.
McCormack said funding is being directed at hobby farmers rather than those producing food. \ Claire Nash
In a charged statement, the Tipperary farmer called on Minister McConalogue to spell out the estimated budget for consultant fees associated with all schemes in Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan.
“We reckon the consultants’ fees look set to skyrocket compared to the previous periods and all [will be] at the expense of family farms who continue to see their payments undermined and cut.”
Environmental movement
The ICMSA president said the association is now wondering who will be on the “project teams” for the AECM.
“I can almost guarantee that they will be drawn to a significant extent from the most vociferous elements of the environmental movement and that all will have degrees of connection to groups that are already on the record as being critical of commercial farming.”
He highlighted concerns that such individuals will “take it upon themselves to undermine and eliminate commercial farming from the areas in which they operate”.
He asked: “What exactly are these teams bringing to the work that wasn’t to be found in the Department of the Environment, Parks and Wildlife, EPA or the Department of Agriculture?
“To be honest, from [the] ICMSA’s view, this looks uncomfortably like a green gravy train for supporters and friends.”
Convergence
Pat McCormack also said he is “scathing” about the fact that the AECM is “bluntly targeted” at those areas that have “already done very well out of convergence”.
He said it is unfair that “possibly up to 50% of the budget will go to a small proportion of the country and that landowners, rather than farmers, will qualify for payments”.
He queried why these landowners could get a maximum payment of €10,000, while farmers in other areas, even in the unlikely event that they can qualify for the scheme, only qualify for a maximum of €7,000.
He also criticised the limit of 30,000 placed on the number of participants which will be permitted in the scheme for the rest of the country.
“There are environmental objectives to be met right across the country and there should be equal treatment in relation to access to these schemes. Levels of administration should be kept to a minimum rather than adding another layer of highly questionable effectiveness,” he said.
Hobby farming
The ICMSA president warned that there cannot be a “diversion of funding away from commercial to either hobby farming or people who just own land and don’t farm at all”.
“We can expect to see a sudden interest in acquiring land in these areas and that doesn’t seem to bother those with responsibility for oversight.
"[The] ICMSA has warned repeatedly that we are moving away from supporting food production to, effectively, land stewardship.
“We have listened very closely to people on the environmental challenges and we’ve put forward constructive proposals in relation to this. What we seem to have ended up with, however, is a scheme to reward the consultant professionals and owners of land rather than farmers.”
Read more
Project teams to lead AECM co-operation measures
Revealed: locations of priority farms for €10,000 CAP scheme
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