Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and the Minister of State, Deputy Heydon, for facilitating today's question and answers on the important CAP negotiations. It is also important to be sensitive when discussing the range of farming payments and the impact of potential changes to these payments. Often, they are critical income for farming families and particularly so in counties such as Mayo which I represent. It is also important to recognise that the value of CAP payments has significantly shifted from east to west since 2014. Payments to Mayo, Donegal, Galway and Kerry have increased substantially in recent years.

I wholeheartedly agree with the comments of the Minister on the opportunity to make decisions at national level. This is a very important step. His earlier comments summed up the main issues highlighted to me by farming organisations and farmers on convergence, the transition to eco-schemes and minimising the impact of eco-schemes on farmers' basic payments, which is an important step. The front-loading of payments has a significant impact on small and medium farmers, and should be best prescribed by member states at national level.

In policy terms, some have described convergence as being a crude measure that will severely hit farmers with a high payment per hectare but result in an overall lower payment. This has serious consequences for Irish farmers because of demographics, and I know the Minister is working hard to find solutions in this regard. As we heard earlier, an important step forward is seeking national consultation with farmers. It does not seem unreasonable to seek flexibility on policymaking at national level versus a blanket across the board approach. This is especially true when we consider the variance in agricultural and rural populations in EU member states.

The criteria for farmers to be eligible for eco-schemes must be practical and encourage the maximum number of farmers to participate. They should be designed to recognise farmers who are actively farming their land through environmentally positive actions. This should be reviewed accordingly. A cost incurred or income sacrifice model would have a significant negative effect on farm incomes and should be avoided. We should be measuring positive environmental impacts.

The main issues I have raised with regard to CAP are convergence, eco-schemes and front-loading, and how they would impact a constituency such as Mayo or Donegal.

See this speech in context