Farmers must be protected in CAP talks
Munster vice-president Donal Kelly, following a regional meeting in Mallow, called on the Government to protect the interests of these farmers in the forthcoming talks.
Mr Kelly said farmers who joined the ERS and who had leased out their suckler quota find, under the Fischler proposals, their land will have no entitlements and will be devalued as a result.
He said the onus is clearly on Minister Joe Walsh to ensure that the rights of farmers, who had joined the scheme with the expectation that their quotas would be intact, do not lose out under Fischler’s proposals.
Concern was also raised at the Mallow meeting in relation to farmers who are contemplating joining the ERS but, due to the uncertainty, are being put in a very serious situation as the future of entitlements is unclear. As it stands under the proposals, the entitlements cannot be passed onto a transferee as they must first of all be activated in order for them to be transferred, he said.
Mr Kelly also voiced concern about the failure of the EU Commission to allow indexation of the EU Early Retirement Scheme.
Farmers who joined the scheme between 1994 and 1999 have seen the value of their pension drop by up to 30% due to inflation.
