Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)

Members on this side of the House acknowledge and support the excellent work in terms of rural development by organisations such as Leader. However, we do not want to see a situation whereby future funding of Leader organisations and rural development groups will be at the expense of Irish farmers. Effectively, this is what is on the table in terms of health check and the CAP review due to commence in 2008. We encourage the Minister not to yield to the EU Commission on this issue. We will support her in every possible way in this regard.

The value of single farm payments, given that agri-inflation is way ahead of ordinary inflation, has diminished significantly. To take further from that would impact significantly on farmers' incomes. I ask that the Minister hold her ground on this issue to ensure rural development is not funded at the expense of agriculture.

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