Ecology and food security on the agenda as Ciolos visits Ireland

FARM groups and Oireachtas committee members will discuss ecology and future food security issues during today’s Irish visit by European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Dacian Ciolos.

Despite intense budgetary pressures on the European Union, Commissioner Ciolos’s visit takes place against the relatively reassuring backdrop that any changes to the Single Farm Payment will happen in a gradual, phased manner.

Commissioner Ciolos recently addressed a forum on CAP restructuring in Brussels. Backed by French and German commitments to sustained supports for farming, he made it clear that any shift away from ‘historic’ payments to farmers will mean a redirection of focus rather than cuts in funding.