Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am trying not only to protect the farmers whose case I am putting forward but also to enhance their position. Many farmers on smaller holdings have not gotten a fair crack of the whip. Going back to 2001 or 2002, farmers in the west of Ireland who had a few suckling cows discovered that their farms were not intensive enough to be able to receive the entitlements they deserved, whereas farmers with better land in other parts of the country who were farming more intensively received larger entitlements. That is the imbalance in all of this. At the centre of CAP is the question as to whether it exists to support production or the family farm. That is the decision we must make. I advocate that it should be both but that the family farm must be the primary concern because consumers want their produce to come from family farms, not industrial farms. Most people across Europe understand that. We do not have industrial farms in Ireland and we should not go in that direction because it would not put us in a good place in terms of marketing our produce. In that context, it is very important that Pillar 1 be used to support the basic income of the family farmer. The vast majority of family farmers in my area and parts of Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo probably receive between €4,000 and €5,000 on the basic farm payment. That must be increased by at least 50% in order to ensure those farms are sustainable into the future. There is an opportunity in these CAP negotiations to do that.

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