Patrick Nulty (Dublin West, Labour)

It seems inevitable there will be radical reform of the Common Agricultural Policy but the nature of that reform is now contested. We need a fair and redistributive approach. Will the Minister consider the proposals that have been made by the United Farmers Organisation to place a threshold on the payment any individual can receive under the CAP? For example, in this State, the single biggest beneficiary of CAP payments is someone like Michael O'Leary, who is not struggling to get by in the current economic climate. In reforming CAP, we must target the resources we have to small farmers - those who need it - to preserve rural life and to ensure small farming continues to be a viable operation for people in this country. That requires leadership and the taking on of powerful interests to place a cap on the payments made to already wealthy individuals.

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