Patrick Nulty (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 33: To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is willing to discuss proposals for reform of the Common Agricultural Policy which raise concerns with the flat payment per hectare model; if he is willing to consider proposals on a cut off payment at a certain amount of hectares; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14601/12]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The European Commission's proposals for the Common Agricultural Policy for the period 2014 to 2020 include a gradual move away from payments based on historical production towards a system of uniform national or regional payment rates by 2019.

The mechanism proposed by the Commission raises serious concerns for Ireland. It would result in very significant transfers from more productive farms to more marginal and less productive land. Analysis carried out by my Department indicates that, under a national flat-rate model, the most productive farmers would lose, on average, about one-third of their current payments, while the least productive farmers would see their payments rise by an average of 86%. Alternative redistributions based on a two-region model, or even an eight-region model, would have similar outcomes. I do not believe that these are compatible with my commitment to sustainable intensification of production, the maintenance of a vibrant rural economy and the achievement of the objectives of the Food Harvest 2020 strategy.

I have been relaying these concerns very strongly at every opportunity in recent months, including in the course of discussions with the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dacian Ciolos, during his visit to Dublin in January and in bilateral contacts with Ministerial counterparts. I am pressing for the maximum possible flexibility to be given to Member States to design payment models that suit their own farming conditions, and to include the possibility of lengthy transition periods. The 'approximation' approach, by which all payments could gradually move towards the average, and which the Commission itself has adopted in the distribution of funds between Member States, is one alternative that is currently being examined.

I will continue to work intensively with the Commissioner and with my counterparts at the Council of Ministers to achieve the required flexibility and to come up with an acceptable solution that does not have the dramatic redistributive effects inherent in the current proposals.