Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 26 June 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Common Agricultural Policy Negotiations: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

3:30 pm

Photo of Marcella Corcoran KennedyMarcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Mr. Gleeson and the other officials for the presentation. Mr. Gleeson talked about the difficulties in accessing the crisis reserve. How often have we been able to access it? If recollection serves me well, the answer is not too often. Would making it more accessible form part of the negotiations?

On the national plan, from what I can gather we have only 18 months and a significant amount of work is required in the SWAT analysis, the assessment of need, the intervention strategy, the evaluation, the strategic environmental analysis and all of the rest. How far along the process are we? It seems to be enormously detailed work. Will the consultation on 4 July form part of it?

Mr. Gleeson said the interventions would not be defined at the same level of detail and that there would be some room for discretion. How will we have that discretion and how will it apply practically on the ground?

We have all heard plenty from young farmers on the supports they consider are important to help them to get into farming. I note that Mr. Gleeson has said the Department is examining the condition carefully. Is that a loaded statement in terms of it being a positive or a negative?

My other question relates to the so-called genuine farmer. Please excuse my ignorance of legal terminology, but what is a pluriactive farmer? One would nearly need to have a degree to interpret it.

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