Coveney warned that negotiations on CAP reform are ‘doomed to failure’

The Irish Farmers Association has warned Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney that negotiations on a new common agricultural policy (CAP) are “doomed to failure” and accused the minister of conceding too much.

IFA president John Bryan said Mr Coveney needed to set out in detail the combined losses for individual farmers arising from the CAP reform proposals.

He said it was totally unacceptable that thousands of farmers could lose 30%-40% on their existing Single Farm Payment by 2019. “This equates to cutting the incomes of over 60,000 of our most productive farmers by an average of at least 20%,” Mr Bryan said.