No to Nice campaigners condemn €500m grants ‘bribe’ to farmers
The Green Party strongly condemned the fast-tracking and boosting of subsidies to ensure they are paid just days before the referendum date, while Sinn Féin slammed it as a cynical ploy.
EU grants worth €500m will be paid out to livestock farmers on October 16 just three days before the referendum date.
Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh is also seeking to have cereal payments worth around €100m paid in October, instead of November.
EU Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler is considering whether to allow the subsidies to be paid earlier, and is expected to sanction the payment.
Minister Walsh has encouraged Fianna Fáil party members to use the massive grant payments when selling the referendum door-to-door.
In a letter to Fianna Fáil TDs and Senators, accompanying a 40-page dossier on EU grants for use on the campaign trail, Minister Walsh highlights the dates of the payments in the context of Nice.
Green Party president John Gormley said the Government would stop at nothing to have the No vote reversed and accused them of engaging in emotional blackmail, scare-mongering and bribery to secure a Yes vote.
"It's a disgrace the way State institutions and bodies are being used to secure a Yes vote," he said.
According to Deputy Gormley, Commissioner Fischler's sympathetic ear is another example of the EU hierarchy interfering in the outcome of the Irish vote.
"Europe is more than willing to row in behind the Irish Government to secure a Yes vote," he said.
"I think you will see a long list of officials getting involved in the coming months."
Sinn Féin agriculture spokesman Martin Ferris said the decision to use people's entitlements to induce them to vote in a particular manner was deplorable.
"The case for speeding up payments in order to alleviate some of the hardship caused by this year's bad weather is clear. I am confident farmers will judge the issues on their merits and will not be influenced by the Government's manipulation of the grants," he said.
The use of the EU payments to win over the farming community merely heightens the cynicism felt by the public, Deputy Gormley said. But he said that while No campaigners are determined to repeat last year's Nice victory, many voters feel the treaty can't be stopped this time in the face of the Government's onslaught.
"We're being steam-rolled but, yes, there is hope.
Many of the ordinary voting public feel at this stage there is nothing they can do. But we're saying don't succumb to resignation and get out there and vote."
Last year, Co Cork got the highest payout by county of EU grants, receiving €138m across a range of schemes.
Co Galway also received in excess of €100m, followed by Co Tipperary at around €90m. Co Dublin came bottom of the pile for EU subsidies, with its farmers receiving just over €9m.
