Reacting to what is still a degree of uncertainty about the new CAP funding arrangements, North Cork ICMSA chair, Maurice Walsh, said what was already clear was that agriculture has taken a hit compared to the previous programme period of 2014-2020 and it will be necessary for the Irish Government to supply three basic metrics immediately to allow proper consideration of the funding deal concluded.
“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 and, thirdly and most importantly now, we will need to know how our Government intends to make up that reduction”, said the Mitchelstown farmer.
The North Cork ICMSA spokesperson said that we appeared to have arrived at the kind of illogical ‘swings and roundabouts’ solution that farmers had feared.
“There’s no point whatsoever in Ireland getting more funds under a Covid heading to be distributed amongst larger commercial businesses affected by the pandemic, if we’ve lost the same or greater under a CAP heading that would have been distributed amongst farm families and through them into the wider rural economy.
"We’re no better off nationally and, in fact, all we’ve done is sign off on an arrangement that diverts money from the …"
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