Full de-coupling best, says Walsh
His comments followed reports that some IFA members were unhappy with the decision to opt for full de-coupling and were seeking certain changes.
However, IFA president John Dillon earlier stated that its National Council had decided in favour of full de-coupling and this position of principle had not changed.
ICSA president Malcolm Thompson warned that any U-turns on the decision to opt for full de-coupling would do more harm than good.
Mr Walsh said he had taken a decision in favour of full de-coupling and is proceeding with implementing it. The decision will come into effect in January of next year.
He said a reported call for a U-turn had not influenced him at all. It had come out of the blue.
He had no intimation from farm spokespersons, organisations or individual farmers that there was a wish or desire for a U-turn.
Mr Walsh said the overwhelming weight of opinion among the farming organisations was in favour of full de-coupling. This was also reflected in the feedback from the 40 or so information seminars for farmers held by his department countrywide in the autumn.
Mr Walsh said he believed full de-coupling will underpin the development of a sustainable, market oriented agri-food sector.
“They want the freedom which now allows them to focus more sharply on the marketplace and the demands of the consumer, rather than being influenced in their farming decisions by the availability of premia.
“And they recognise that the changes resulting from the Luxembourg Agreement will ensure a more competitive, sustainable market-oriented agriculture that will be good for farmers, good for processors and good for consumers,” he said.
