Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 September 2012
64. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Agriculture; Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the submission of the newly formed United Farmers' Association in relation to reform of the common agricultural policy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40442/12]
Amharc ar fhreagra76. Deputy Mick Wallace asked the Minister for Agriculture; Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the proposals for reform of the single farm payment put forward by the newly formed United Farmers Association; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40443/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 64 and 76 together.
I received the submission from the United Farmers Association in relation to the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and reform of the Single Farm Payment late last week. I very much welcome the submission. The current reform of the CAP will set the context and policy framework for the future development of the agricultural sector in Ireland and I am anxious to hear from all stakeholders concerning their proposals for the direction of these reforms.
I am still examining the detailed points made in the submission but I would be happy to provide some preliminary comments at this stage.
I fully accept and can endorse many of the points made in the submission concerning the need for equity, fairness and balance in reform of the CAP. I agree with the concept of full decoupling and the importance of taking into account social and environmental considerations in addition to economic criteria.
My priorities in the negotiations on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy arise in four key areas. These are the overall level of CAP funding under the EU budget, the method adopted for the distribution of CAP funds between Member States, the method for distributing direct payment funds within Member States, and the overarching need for simplification in the reformed CAP.
In that respect I do have some difficulty with some of the points made in the UFA submission, notably the suggestion to set payments at fixed rate per hectare. I recognise that we cannot continue to base our payments on outdated historic production references. Nevertheless, I have major difficulties with the concept of flat rates of payment per hectare.
Under a national flat rate, although the overall allocation to Ireland would not change, around 76,000 Irish farmers would gain an average of 86% on their current payments, while around 57,000 would lose an average of 33%. These are average percentages, and some of the gains and losses would be far larger than this. For example, in the extreme case of those on very high payments of over €1000 per hectare, the loss would be well over 70%. In general, the losses would be incurred by more productive farmers. This would have undesirable consequences at a time when Ireland is trying to encourage sustainable intensification in the agri-food sector, as we strive to achieve the objectives in the Food Harvest 2020 strategy.
I have accordingly been pressing for the maximum possible flexibility to be given to Member States to design payment models that suit their own farming conditions. The ‘approximation’ approach, by which all payments could gradually move towards, but not fully to, the average, is one alternative that I believe should be considered in this regard. The Commission’s “pragmatic” proposal for redistribution between Member States is, in effect, an approximation approach and provides a useful precedent. Modelling in my Department suggests that the application of this system to the distribution of funds between farmers in Ireland would lead to much smaller gains and losses to individual farmers than under a flat rate system. However, the precise level of transfers depends on the details of the methodology used.
The negotiation process on CAP is a complex and difficult one, but all of my efforts are focused on achieving the best possible outcome for Ireland. These efforts will be continued over the coming months as I continue to build close working relationships and potential alliances with the European Parliament and with Member States. I will also continue to press the Irish position with Commissioner Ciolos - whom I met as recently as last Friday in Dublin - ahead of a determined attempt to reach an agreement during the Irish Presidency of the European Union in 2013.
