IFA outlines development plan priorities

THE Irish Farmers Association (IFA) has set down key priorities for the next rural development plan, which the Government is due to submit to the European Commission shortly.

Speaking at a public consultation seminar in Tullamore yesterday, IFA rural development committee chairman Padraic Divilly said the priority for the next plan (2007-2013) must be to help farmers meet a range of objectives.

These include competitiveness, structural reform, agri-environment, alternative land uses, the maintenance of farming in less favoured areas and support to the wider rural economy.

Mr Divilly said a revised early retirement scheme must be introduced with a higher pension level and the removal of many of the anomalies which are in the current scheme.

These include the transferee age and off-farm income limits. To complement the early retirement scheme, a revamped installation aid must be put in place to encourage young farmers to set up in farming, he added.

In relation to farm investment, Mr Divilly said a modernisation scheme must be available to cater for those farmers who want to scale up their production.

It was important that the EU implementing guidelines allowed grant aid where there was increased production.

Also, the farm waste management scheme must be available for the whole of the programme, he said.

The IFA is calling for a 25% increase in payment rates in all classified areas to reflect the need to support farm incomes in economically fragile areas of the country.