CAP reform ideas put to commissioner

A payment of €250 per acre for the first 80 acres for active farmers was one of the CAP reform proposals put to the EU’s Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos during his recent visit to Ireland.

It came from a National Farm Family and Milk Rights Group delegation which met Mr Ciolos, when he was invited to Ardee, Co Louth by MEP Mairead McGuinness.

The €250, with a gradual reduction for higher acreage, is necessary for the survival of family farms, said Donie Shine, chairman of the group.