INHFA National President Colm O’Donnell has outlined the need to protect the family farm by ensuring it is ring-fenced from any cuts in the new CAP deal. With a proposed cut of 5% to the new CAP budget there is he stated “a concern that smaller farms who, are the lifeblood of our rural communities will see further cuts to their incomes that are already under considerable pressure.”
To ensure this doesn’t happen he continued “I am calling on Minister Creed to commit to a front-loaded payment model as outlined by the INHFA in our submission on CAP. By doing so we can protect the small to medium size farms which are essential to the industry and Rural Ireland.”
O’Donnell then added how we need to look again at how we sell CAP to the wider European public stating “how we are once again seeing a cut to the budget and while Brexit is a factor, we also need to recognise that the European tax payers who are funding CAP don’t see the need to support intensive food production. This has been clearly expressed through their elected representatives and Governments and we would be wise to take heed.”
However he continued “the European public and their representatives are willing to support measures that mitigate against climate change, improve on environmental outcomes and protect habitats. These public good measures will be the future of CAP –that’s the reality, which is why we need to ensure they are to the forefront in the new CAP Program that will be implemented here in Ireland.
