27 Apr 2015, 14:26
The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine will meet tomorrow with Department of Agriculture officials for a discussion on the uncertainty facing farmers around the eligibility of marginal land for the Basic Payments Scheme and GLAS.
27 April 2015
Earlier this month, representatives from the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA), the Agricultural Consultants Association (ACA); Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association and Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers’ Association (ICSA) told the Committee of the precarious financial position farm families nationwide are facing, with the applications due in early May.
Committee Chairman Andrew Doyle TD says: “At a meeting earlier this month, the Committee heard key stakeholders call for action on workable and consistent land eligibility guidelines for marginal land payments. Tomorrow’s meeting with senior Department Officials will provide an opportunity to assess how the unacceptable confusion that has arisen around these guidelines is being addressed.
“With what is a crucial first year of a new Common Agricultural Policy, there were calls for more joined up thinking between the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and the National Parks and Wildlife Service at the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. The Committee looks forward to a productive and focussed engagement with Department officials tomorrow, with a view to generating a momentum that will deliver practical solutions for farmers on marginal land.”
The meeting will commence at 2 pm tomorrow Tuesday 28 April in Committee Room 3, LH 2000. The meeting will start in private session with scrutiny of EU legislative proposal COM (2015) 141, which relates to fixing the rate for direct farm payments.
The outcomes from these discussions on EU scrutiny will be outlined in public session, which can be followed live here.
Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the move, through the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.
Media enquiries to:
Paul Hand,
Communications Unit,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 4484
M: +353 87 694 9926
paul.hand@oireachtas.ie
Committee Membership:
Chairman: Andrew Doyle, (Fine Gael)
Deputies: Tom Barry (Fine Gael); Pat Deering (Fine Gael); Martin Ferris (Sinn Féin); Martin Heydon (Fine Gael); Michael McNamara (Labour); Éamon Ó Cuív (Fianna Fáil); Willie Penrose (Labour Party); Thomas Pringle (Independent)
Senators: Michael Comiskey, Denis Landy, Paschal Mooney, Mary Ann O’Brien, Brian Ó Domhnaill, Pat O’Neill.