New CAP proposals expected to benefit 3,000 Sligo farmers

THE Irish Natura & Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) have contested the narrative that the current CAP proposals will undermine the income of Irish farmers.

Sligo chairperson Hugh Gallagher said: “Nationally, under a full flattening of payments 72,710 farmers will gain, representing 60% of all farmers, while in Sligo 2,951 farmers will benefit, which accounts for 77% of the county’s farmers.” He said that “despite concerns expressed by some, the current proposals will deliver for the vast majority of Irish and Sligo farmers”.

He said that with the EU parliament “holding their ground for the full flattening of payments it is unbelievable that a parliament in Brussels is more in touch with the needs of Irish farmers than many of the public and farming representatives here”. Mr Gallagher said a full flattening of Pillar 1 payments would see all farmers paid a national average by 2026 of €265/ha which includes the proposed eco-scheme.

“This will be delivered through the convergence of payments over the lifetime of the CAP Programme. For County Sligo this would see an annual increase in payments to the counties farmers of €4.9 million,” he said.

Mr Gallagher said that another proposal outlined at EU level was the option to frontload payments through the Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS).

“This allows countries to target additional payments on the first number of hectares to support small holders. To fund this a country can put a limit on the maximum payment and, if required, apply a cut to the overall Pillar 1 budget.”

Mr Gallagher said that the INHFA are supporting this “as it will benefit small holders and potentially increase the payments for farmers on the first 10-20ha to over €300/ha which will be critical to a county like Sligo where the average farm size is 26ha”. With an increased focus in the new CAP on delivering improved outcomes for the environment, Mr Gallagher said that “many of our farmers have been doing this without the proper recognition or reward”.

“With the EU’s Nature Fitness Check establishing how our designated lands are delivering between €2-3 billion each year to our economy translating into almost €3,000/ha we now need to ensure this CAP recognises this output in the same way it recognises farm output,” Mr Gallagher said.