Farmers protest in 'flash action' at European Commission offices against  removal of Cap budget

Alice Doyle, deputy president of the IFA, and Edward Carr, president of ICOS, at a protest outside EU Commission offices in Dublin on Tuesday morning against the stripping away of the CAP budget. Pictures: Colin Keegan/Collins 

The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) and the group representing co-ops held a protest in Dublin on Tuesday warning against a plan to to remove the Cap budget in favour of a once-off funding approach to the EU budget.

Farmers and farming representatives took part in the "flash action" at the European Commission offices on Tuesday morning.

The IFA and Irish Co-operative Organisation Society (ICOS) protest coincided with a flash action organised by Copa Cogeca, the largest representative union of more than 22 million European farmers in Brussels.

The EU Commission has put forward proposals to amalgamate Common Agricultural Policy (Cap) into a single fund.

The move has sparked concern in the agricultural sector, which warns funding could be stripped back over the years as it will not be ring-fenced.

Irish Farmers' Association deputy president Alice Doyle said they have been warning against the consequences of the changes to the Cap budget.

"The Cap budget has been in place since the Treaty of Rome, way back in the 50s, and it was put in place to make sure that we would have food security across Europe, which was paramount and is still paramount today," she said.

"The production of food is very important. Farmers have to be supported financially to produce food. We are producing the best food in the world, in Ireland and across Europe."

Farmers at the protest in Dublin on Tuesday morning.

She said if food security is to be there, farmers are going to have to be supported in the continuous production of that food.

"The Cap budget is what gives that finance to the farmers to help them produce that food," Ms Doyle said.

"If that budget is subsumed into the main European budget, it can be pilfered at any time, to be used for any purpose.

We want this ring-fenced, as it has always been from the very beginning, ring-fenced to support farmers across Europe, and here in Ireland in particular, in the production of food, and to make sure that we have food security.

She added: "If it is not ring-fenced, the income of farmers would be reduced dramatically, because we all depend on that direct payment coming from Europe. That's part of our basic income scheme.

"The second thing is, it would have a huge impact on rural Ireland because farmers are based in rural Ireland, and every penny they earn is spent in rural Ireland."

Edward Carr, a diary farmer from Tipperary, president of the ICOS and chairman of Arrabawn Co-operative, said the Cap budget was being targeted.

"The proposed changes are very concerning for the future of farmers within our country," he said.

"It's concerning because the Cap was brought in few years ago for us as a protection that we produce cheap food.

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"It has to be taken into consideration that we are probably one of the best countries on the globe to produce sustainable food in a sustainable manner, while protecting the environment.

"I think it's just come to the stage where farmers have to stand up for themselves and protect themselves. The future of this cheap, sustainable food being produced has to be protected. It's time for Europe to pay more heed to this."