Mr. Padraic Connelly:

We recommend that the first 20 ha be front-loaded at a rate of €315 per hectare. The reason for this is to give us parity with conventional farmers in the GLAS programme, as outlined in our financial comparison between a conventional and organic farmer. For example, a conventional farmer in GLAS with a low-input hay meadow has a rate of €3,140 on 10 ha over five years. On the organic farming scheme, the rate is just €700. The wild bird cover is €2,700 for 3 ha but in the organic scheme it is €510. The total of the schemes for a conventional farmer in GLAS is €5,840 versus €2,210 for the organic farmer.

There should be a tillage payment of €450 per hectare up to 5 ha in order to reduce dependence on imported feeds during the winter months. There should be one licence to cover the term of the organic farming scheme. Annual licensing is cumbersome and extremely expensive. Anything between 9% and 25% of the organic payment must be paid to the certification bodies. For example, a farmer with 12 ha pays €2,200 to certification bodies while a farmer with 30 ha pays €3,000 to a certification body and a farmer with 50 ha must pay €3,100 to the body. The certification bodies not only collect fees from farmers but also from factories, co-ops, marts, shops, butchers, branding, etc. They are also funded by the Department. The scheme in its current form is completely biased in favour of bigger farmers to the detriment of smaller operators and it must be reviewed as a matter of urgency.

Certification should be carried out by Bord Bia, as recommended by the joint committee. We encourage a risk-based assessment once a farmer has been fully converted for the organic scheme. We welcome the penalty system suggested by the Oireachtas committee. Payment of all organic farming scheme moneys should be delivered in the same calendar year. With regard to the terms and conditions of the organic farming scheme being changed on an annual basis by certification bodies, we suggest that an independent office should be available to organic farmers to verify the necessity of some conditions, which, frankly, we find ridiculous. For example, there is a new rule on bedding in slatted accommodation. We disagree with the new ruling and we want to have this independently assessed. We find that on occasions we are participating in a somewhat different scheme from that to which we signed up.

Agriculture is one of the few sectors - if not the only one- that does not have access to the Labour Court. The fact that an independent forum such as the Labour Court is not available to the agricultural sector is putting farmers in a position where they can be subjected to unfair treatment by the Department and other organisations.