Protecting our assets

Throughout the past 12 months, I have travelled extensively to communicate Ireland’s position in relation to the CAP to other agriculture ministers and Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos and learn what the key issues are for other member states.

This has to be done to drive reform and achieve consensus at an EU level; with 27 member states and widely varying interests, it is challenging to reach agreement but we are working hard to do so and lobbying other member states to achieve the best possible outcome for Ireland.

One of the most crucial issues will be the allocation of direct payments within member states. The priority for Ireland is to obtain as much flexibility as possible with regard to payment models. The commission proposal to move to flat national or regional rates will cause large transfers from the more productive farms to more marginal and less productive land.