Farmers livelihoods endangered
He said the controversial EU regulation is being implemented by the Department of Agriculture and Food.
It stipulates that any farmer with less than twenty income units (20 cows) will not qualify for grant-aid for the erection of farm buildings with slurry waste management facilities.
“This is probably the most damaging diktat concerning the future of small and medium farms.
“Unless these farmers can build slurry storage facilities, they will be unable to cope with the conditions imposed in the nitrates directive.
“And they will be automatically disqualified from the Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS).
“Effectively hundreds of small and medium sized farmers will go to the wall”
Senator Higgins said the regulation also militates against young farmers with more than twenty income units.
They will not get the top-up grant of 15% on top of the 40% grant for the construction of a shed if they have been in farming for more than five years.
“I am at a loss to know what kind of complicated minds think up such discriminatory rules and regulations,” he said.
He called on Agriculture and Food Minister Mary Coughlan to go back to the EU and insist the regulation be modified.
“The authors of this were clearly not aware of, or decided to deliberately ignore, the reality of the Irish farming structure.”
