Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are in a situation in which a debate is ongoing over how a diminished pot of supports is to be distributed among the country's farmers who are being asked to do much more in return for far less. It seems as though our farmers are being utilised instead of being supported.

The nature of the Common Agricultural Policy has changed from one that was supposed to assist farmers to engage in good practice with the benefits of high-quality produce being affordable for the consumer. Instead, what we have seen is a Common Agricultural Policy the funds of which have in many instances fallen into the laps of the barons or those who are sitting back receiving payments but who are not actively engaged in farming while young farmers work their land for a pittance.

In the course of many conversations there have been about the Common Agricultural Policy, we have heard a lot about reform in relation to the latest one. Reform is meant to be about progressive change which considers those whom it will affect and tries to bring them along with it. Instead, farmers and rural communities, whose common economic fabric depends in large parts on their prosperity, have been asked for more in return for less. This started when the Government agreed to a CAP budget that was bad for our farmers and bad for our rural communities. We are a net contributor yet, under the current arrangement that involve this Government, the CAP now makes up only 30% - a huge reduction when compared to the previous budgetary cycle where it stood at 37%. This led to talks stalling over redistribution measures. The Government's position seems to be against redistribution, which will not be good news for many farmers, which leads me on to fairness and convergence, front-loading and how to ensure that the CAP, with all its flaws, is distributed in as fair a manner as possible.

As matter stands, Pillar 1 payments are linked to productivity figures based on the situation in the early 2000s, which, of course, has little to do with the reality today of family farms, yet there is opposition to averaging Pillar 1 payments. Moving to full convergence would be to the benefit of 72,000 farmers and if flexibilities are implemented in the way Sinn Féin has been proposing, effects on others can be avoided. With this in mind, Sinn Féin has called for up to 20% to be ring-fenced for front-loaded payments to protect small and medium-sized farmers who have historically valuable entitlements. We also have advocated a €60,000 cap in the maximum Pillar 1 payment to prevent a disproportionate amount going to those who need it least. In 2020, €3.6 million in direct payments went to only 20 farm enterprises. Although Larry Goodman received over €414,000 and a single stud farm owned by Sheikh Al Maktoum received €222,300, many farmers must live on subsistence levels of payment. Now they are being asked to comply with a Common Agricultural Policy that has a different overall aim. That aim, of course, is the crucially important green strategy on climate action. Eco-schemes are needed, and never more so, but the way payments are being devised will result in farmers themselves being asked to fund a disproportionate amount of the environmental measures as they replace the greening payment from the previous CAP. Sinn Féin was in favour of the introduction of the eco-schemes but we argued that they should be part of a new separate pillar with new funding.

Young farmers have also been left fighting for survival. In terms of the minimum allocation for young farmers, it seems as though it is closer to the 3% than the 4% Macra na Feirme, for instance, had been calling for. The difference equates to €14 million over the lifetime of the new CAP but the impacts would have a far larger effect that would be felt for a long time to come. We cannot forget here that one of the objectives of CAP is to strengthen the social and economic fabric of rural areas. If our small farmers are forced out, our rural communities will suffer.

When it comes to price recovery, are the Minister and the EU Commission expecting that the price of the produce they pick up at retailers, such as meat, dairy and grain, will remain unchanged? I can assure the Minister, if this is the expectation, it will further the crisis in rural Ireland.

Finally, can I get written answers, if the Minister has not time, to these two questions. When it comes to the wording of the good agricultural and environmental conditions, GAEC, can the Minister give us some detail on how the derogation proposed in Article 4 of GAEC 2 complies with Article 2(1)(b) of the Paris Agreement, which calls for the greenhouse gas, GHG, emission reductions to be developed in a manner that does not threaten food production and can he update us on the discussions with the EU Commission on the working of GAEC 2?

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