Ireland ‘faces CAP grant fight’

IRELAND needs to fight to keep control of how European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) grants to farmers are distributed, according to a report by the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee.

The committee said, while CAP had flaws it had improved a lot since it was introduced three decades ago and the historic model should not be thrown out. Because of this, it said, if CAP was adequately funded, it could still go a long way to improving the food industry across the continent.

“The CAP, while obviously not perfect, is now well-adapted to the needs of European society. More importantly, the CAP has now the capacity, particularly with further appropriate reform, to make a significant contribution to EU and global food security, to combating climate change and to general economic recovery,” the report said.