Political clash over cash cut
Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party chairman Seamus Kirk turned on Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh this week, describing as "ludicrous", a last minute announcement that farmers will get only €20 million of the €30 million of National Envelope funding committed to by EU Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler, Minister Joe Walsh, and senior officials.
The Louth Dáil Deputy, a European candidate for the East constituency, called on the Department of Agriculture to challenge the decision to remove €10 million coming into the Single Payment Scheme for suckler farmers from National Envelope in the reference years of 2000, 2001 and 2002.
"That €30 million was allocated to suckler farmers who are facing into extremely tough times at the moment. The Department of Agriculture's new explanatory guide to Single Payments gives examples based on that €30 million being paid", said Kirk.
"Now, we are being told that €10 million of that money has been axed, with 40 cow farmers facing losses of up to €480 from the single payment from 2005 onwards. I will be meeting Minister Walsh this week to explain to him that is quite simply not good enough for Irish suckler farmers".
"He must go back to Brussels and tell them that Irish suckler farmers need that e10 million which they have been promised for so long, to remain part of the fund."
However, a Department of Agriculture spokesman said there is no surprise in the National Envelope portion of the Single Payment. He said farmers got National Envelope funds of €10m in 2000, €20m in 2001, and €30m in 2002. Like all reference period payments, these will be averaged over three years, so farmers will get €20m in the Single Payment.
The single farm payment guide recently published by the Department of Agriculture confirms that, in computing Single Payment entitlements, the three year average of the amount of money paid to each farmer is used in respect of the National Envelope Top Up for the Dry Heifer, Calved Heifer and Heifers Slaughtered.
However, IFA National Livestock Chairman John Bryan said an additional single page amendment was included in the guide, in an attempt to change the basis of calculating the value of the beef national envelope element of the new single farm payment and this was totally at variance with commitments given by Minister Walsh and senior officials to farmers over the last number of months.
Irish Cattle and Sheepfarmers Association president Malcolm Thompson said farmers had anticipated that the two national envelope top ups for farmers would be divided by one or two years, but it now appears that they will be divided by three years.
