Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 27 January 2005
142 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the way in which she anticipates the grain industry to develop in the wake of the revised EU supports; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [2289/05]
View answerUnder the reformed CAP, Irish cereal farmers will have the cushion of the single farm payment decoupled from production as and from 1 January 2005. Farmers will be able to concentrate on supplying markets, focussing on minimising production costs and maximising their incomes. Improved efficiency of production at farm level will be important to maintain incomes and to ensure that the volume of output is maintained to support the processing sector. In this regard, cereal producers will continue to be able to avail of the research, training and advisory services provided by Teagasc, and to benefit from the services provided by my Department aimed at improving the efficiency, quality and viability of cereal production.
These services include seed certification, seed testing, recommended lists of varieties etc. The value of all these support services is reflected in the fact that Irish cereal producers have consistently achieved some of the highest yields in the world.
The FAPRI-Ireland partnership carried out an analysis, at the request of my Department, of the likely impact of CAP reform on Irish agriculture. It concluded that the impact on the cereals sector would not be significant. An analysis by Teagasc of the likely impact of the reform on tillage farms also concluded that most Irish tillage farmers anticipate that the reform will not have a significant effect on their farming operations.
