Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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Question 199: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the way Common Agriculture Policy reform encourages greater productivity in the food sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2876/12]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My vision for the current reform of the CAP is for a regime that encourages sustainable intensification of production. This means that we need a strong and well resourced EU agriculture policy that supports the twin goals of competitiveness and sustainability. We should stabilise and support farm incomes through direct payments while addressing market volatility through a safety net of market support measures.

In my view the current system of farm payments, as applied in Ireland, supports productivity. It allows farmers to become more market-orientated in responding to consumer demand and to direct their production efforts to providing the products that meet the needs of customers and consumers, while also supporting sustainability.

In that regard, the current CAP reform proposals from the EU Commission for distribution of direct payments within Member States give rise to some difficulties for me. My main concern is that the move to uniform regional or national rates will cause substantial transfers of payments in Ireland from the more productive farms to more marginal and less productive land and much of this movement is proposed to be front-loaded. My priority is to seek as much flexibility as possible for Member States to determine the payment models best suited to their conditions and to the development of their farming systems. I also believe that a lengthy transitional period is needed if there are to be any changes.

In relation to Pillar 2/Rural Development, I am concerned to ensure that we will have sufficient scope to strongly support competitiveness and sustainability in our farming systems, in accordance with our Food Harvest 2020 goals.