Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As we all know, payments under CAP are the backbone of Irish farming. They are important for the farming community, the rural economy and the overall national economy. Farm families are very concerned about the present proposal to reduce the post-2020 CAP budget by 5%. When a low level of inflation is factored in, this reduction will equate to a 15% reduction over a seven-year period, which is not sustainable. The Irish agriculture community would be very concerned about any such proposed reduction in an essential income support for this sector.

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