Coveney insists sheep farmers will have their incomes protected
The minister said he chose the Initial Unit Value model to protect sheep farmers’ incomes, in particular those who farm on hill and commonage land. The scheme could only be retained in its present form if Ireland were to apply voluntary coupled support, which is not an option under Ireland’s payments model.
“I have decided to apply this provision in Ireland as a means of safeguarding the value of the payments received under the Grassland Sheep Scheme for those farmers concerned,” said Mr Coveney. The Grassland Sheep Scheme is the only Article 68 scheme that is being incorporated into the calculation of entitlements under the new Basic Payment Scheme.
“If such incorporation does not take place, the value of such payments would be redistributed generally among all farmers who establish entitlements. The incorporation of the grassland payment into the calculation of a farmer’s Initial Unit Value in 2015 will result in a higher entitlement value for these farmers, rather than relying solely on the gradual process of convergence to increase the unit value over the five-year period up to 2019.”
The minister said sheep numbers have stabilised in the past two years. While the breeding flock declined slightly in 2013, a return to growth is expected in 2014. Sheep numbers have grown for the third consecutive year, reaching 2.61m head, a rise of 7%.
Sheepmeat production has risen by around 3% to stand at just over 55,000 tonnes. Sheepmeat exports rose by 4% in 2013 to reach €220m, he said.
Mr Coveney was replying to a Dáil question by Roscommon-South Leitrim TD Denis Naughten, who called upon the minister to take action to support the sheep sector which he claimed is showing further worrying signs of decline.
Mr Naughten asked the minister if he was aware that small sheep holdings presently under the €5,000 threshold could be penalised if the sheep grassland top-up pushes them over this threshold. He also sought information on Government plans for a sheep headage scheme to support the sector.
The IFA had called for Oireachtas support for sheep farmers’ total annual payments package of €18m to be retained, instead of the €14m total envisaged under the new model. Mr Naughten suggested that both technology adoption programmes in the dairy and sheep sectors could be funded from pillar II from next year.
“This releases €4m which should be incorporated into the calculation of entitlements of sheep farmers who have availed of the grassland scheme,” said Mr Naughten.
“Not only would the demise of the sheep sector damage the rural economy, particularly for smaller sheep holdings in the midlands and west, but it would also directly impact on employment in the eight key meat plants and a large number of smaller abattoirs.”
He said these funds should not be subject to convergence. The grassland scheme is exempted from the linear reduction in the single farm payment in 2014 and this must be continued for the lifetime of the new funding programme, he said.
“The fact is that sheep farmers have always been short-changed in CAP negotiations. On the last occasion this led to a 25% drop in sheep numbers. If this were to happen under the new CAP programme then there will be more stories similar to the Hacketstown one,” he said
