Martin Ferris
Question:262. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he supports proposals to stop making single farm payments to businesses. [45355/12]
View answerWednesday, 17 October 2012
Questions (262)
Written answers
First I would like to clarify that there are no proposals to stop making Single Farm Payments to businesses. Rather, the EU Commission has proposed putting a progressive cap on the amount of Single Farm Payment any one farmer or business could receive. In that respect, I support the Commission’s proposal, although I also understand the real difficulties of some Member States on this issue, and I believe some flexibility may be required.
I would be somewhat reluctant excluding business enterprises per se from the Single Farm Payment. Business enterprises come in all shapes and sizes and I would not wish to see family farms excluded from payment because they had organised themselves as a corporation or company. If there were to be limits applied, I would prefer to see a simple cap on the amount that a farmer of business could receive.