19 Jul 2012, 17:56
The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine heard a positive report from Minister Simon Coveney TD on the current status of the CAP talks.
The Minister was briefing the Committee on the outcomes of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting as well as a bilateral meeting with the Agriculture Commissioner this week.
Minister Coveney explained that, in the past number of months, Ireland has made progress on building alliances among like-minded countries. Spain and Portugal now share Ireland’s position on maintaining flexibility for the individual Member State in distributing the Single Farm Payment.
Chairman of the Committee Andrew Doyle TD says: “Our Committee has an important oversight role on the Government’s interaction with the European Union and we thank Minister Coveney from a clear and thorough update of the current state of play on the CAP negotiations. Minister Coveney underlined the overriding importance of the CAP to our economy, which currently accounts for about 85 percent of EU inflows to the country.
Our Committee broadly welcomed the Minister’s approach, which is focussed on ensuring flexibility in the redistribution of the Single Farm Payment. We take on board the Minister’s concerns that the current Commission proposals for redistribution go too far, and may impact on our most productive farmers and consequently our Food Harvest 2020 targets.
“The Minister relayed a reasonable proposal which would ensure a more gradual approach towards convergence between farmers who earn the least and those who earn the most from the Single Farm Payment. The Committee supports the Minister’s attempts to curb the potential of added bureaucracy in the ‘greening’ proposals, by allowing farmers who are participating in existing schemes and are 'green by definition' continue to receive funding .”
The Committee also heard from Minister Coveney on how his stance to defend Ireland’s mackerel interests was received at Council.
Deputy Doyle continued: “The Irish fleet’s valuable quota has been seriously threatened with overfishing by Iceland and Faroe Islands in the past year. The Committee strongly supports the Minister’s push for trade sanctions to be imposed on both countries, whose unsustainable and opportunistic flouting of the rules poses considerable risk to mackerel stocks off the Irish coast.”
Access Committee’s contribution on CAP reform.
Ends
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Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine - Membership
Deputies:
Tom Barry, Fine Gael
Michael Colreavy, Sinn Féin
Pat Deering, Fine Gael
Andrew Doyle, Fine Gael
Martin Heydon, Fine Gael
Colm Keaveney, Labour
Michael McNamara, Labour
Michael Moynihan, Fianna Fáil
Thomas Pringle, Independent
Senators:
Michael Comiskey , Fine Gael
Paschal Mooney, Fianna Fáil
Pat O’Neill, Fine Gael
Mary Ann O’Brien, Independent
Brian Ó Domhnaill, Fianna Fáil
Susan O’Keeffe, Labour