Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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1202. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on whether farmers' incomes of less than €15,000 should have no further cuts imposed on them as that money is minimal in itself and no further cuts could be sustained by persons at that level; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38030/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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After an in-depth process of consultation and negotiation that was initiated in 2011, the Council of Ministers, the European Parliament and the Commission reached agreement on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy under the Irish Presidency on 26 June 2013.

The agreement provides a framework for the continuing application of the CAP for the period 2015 to 2019, ensuring uniformity between Member States of the Union while allowing for a high degree of flexibility for Member States in their application of individual measures. In this regard, I am committed to undertaking a comprehensive process of consultation with all relevant stakeholders to ascertain their views on the most appropriate application of the Direct Payment Regulation in light of Ireland’s unique agricultural profile and circumstances.

In July of this year I initiated such a process of consultation with a wide variety of groups and until this process is complete, it is not possible to confirm any of the detail of Direct Payments in 2015. However as part of the Internal Convergence model proposed by Ireland, it is guaranteed that farmers with low value entitlements will have their value increased in each year of the new scheme.