Farmers apply pressure to secure RDP funding

Oireachtas members will be lobbied by the Irish Farmers Association in Dublin tomorrow to put pressure on the Government to secure European Commission approval for the Rural Development Programme (RDP).

IFA president Eddie Downey has called on Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney to put the maximum pressure on the Commission for the early agreement of the RDP in Brussels and to open up the GLAS and TAMS environmental schemes.

Ireland’s plan has now been with the commission for well over six months and has not yet been approved. Already, some countries have had their plans approved and are implementing schemes, he said.