John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to have a say in this discussion. Before I discuss yesterday's announcement, I would like to echo the point with which Deputy Kirk finished up his comments earlier about the superlevy. It is not particularly related to the general discussion we are having, but I appeal to the Minister to act in that regard as soon as possible. There are a number of dairy farmers who will face acute difficulties in the next few months if action is not taken in the immediate term.

I would like to make a couple of points about the proposed reform of the Common Agricultural Policy as announced yesterday by the Commission, without repeating everything that has been said by previous speakers. It is good that the first phase of the shadow-boxing, at least, is over and that the Minister and his officials will be engaging in detailed negotiation, over the next year or more, about what form the review will take. There are a couple of things I would like to point out which are of particular interest to me and to people who are involved in agriculture in my constituency. I commend the Minister on his argument for reserving 2% of the funding for young farmers, which was something in which he took a personal interest. Since the removal of installation aid and the changes made with regard to the pension scheme for early retirement for farmers, any significant step to encourage the transfer of land to younger farmers and encourage their activity in agriculture is to be welcomed, and I commend the Minister in that regard.

Like most of the previous speakers, I am not a fan of the proposal for flat-rate payments. I agree with Deputy John Browne that we must focus on those who are productive in agriculture. Part of the basis of the new system of CAP, with decoupled payments, was the aim of moving funding towards not just those who were productive, but those who were producing a product that was wanted by the market. There is a danger, with the move to a flat-rate payment system, that this may not necessarily be the case in the future.

On the issue of caps, I agree with the previous speaker, Deputy Kitt, with regard to the maximum cap. In fact, the proposed maximum cap might be a bit generous, to be honest. This is something that, along with everything else, will be up for negotiation. I support the idea of a minimum payment, but it will need to be based on the productivity of individual farmers. It will not be easy to come up with a solution that is equitable.

Like previous speakers, I feel the proposal to link 30% of payments to environmental measures is a bit excessive. The proposals as announced yesterday, including a 5% limit on conversion from permanent pasture to arable crops, are a bit too rigid and will present a particular difficulty in this country, as will the 7% that is to be set aside for ecological purposes. I know the Minister has particular views in this regard and I ask him to expound on them at the end of the discussion. I wish him and his officials well in their continued negotiations at European level.

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