Farmers and agri industry to get €227m extra

FARMERS and the agri industry are to get an extra €227 million next year, a 16% increase which brings the expenditure for the area to almost €1.7 billion.

The figure includes carry-forward capital savings of over €20.2m from 2006.

Provision is made for the first year’s funding of an enhanced package of rural development and farm waste management measures, following the recent social partnership talks. The measures finalised at partnership involve agriculture-related schemes worth €6.8bn from 2007-2013, including Exchequer funding of €4.7bn.