Irish farmers ‘would lose out’ from any re-balancing of CAP payment

ALL farmers in Ireland would lose out from any proposal to re-balance the single payment in the Common Agricultural Policy 2013 negotiations, the Irish Farmers Association president John Bryan has warned.

He said figures from the European Union Directorate General of Agriculture have shown that Ireland could lose up to 20% of the single farm payment by moving to an EU-wide flat payment.

Mr Bryan was reacting to comments from the incoming Agriculture Commissioner, Damian Ciolos, that reform of the CAP should re-balance the way aid is distributed among regions, farmers and member states.