Danny Healy-Rae warns eco-schemes may strip small farmers' payments
Danny Healy-Rae spoke on 17 Feb 2021 about CAP negotiations, warning that small farmers feared EU subsidy payments could be placed into a single pot and redirected to eco-schemes, leaving many unable to qualify and losing funds to administration. He urged the minister to speed up feeding licences and raised local cost pressures including feed, fertiliser and dog-control problems.
Key concerns
Danny Healy-Rae said small farmers in Kerry, Sockler, sheep farmers and small dairy men are anxious about rumours from CAP negotiations that their payments could be caught by one pot and directed to eco schemes. He emphasised that subsidy payments from the EU are compensation for producing cheaper food for consumers of Europe and argued payments are not a gift.
Criticism of eco-schemes
He warned that many farmers will not qualify for eco schemes and that a large share of funding could be lost to administration. He said eco schemes appear, to many, to be designed to satisfy the Greens and to paralyse farmers by depriving them of much-needed finance.
Local costs and animal-welfare issues
The deputy highlighted rising costs of feeding and fertiliser and pointed to dog-control problems in places like Shrown, with walkers and dogs not tied up worrying sheep. These local pressures were presented as compounding the financial strain on small farmers.
Requests to the minister
He supported calls for feeding licences to be speeded up and raised the need for horticulture to be addressed. He directed these requests to the minister during the debate.
Procedure and closing
The deputy concluded his remarks and the session moved on after brief thanks.
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No caller, thank you very much. Minister, small farmers in Kerry, Sockler and sheep farmers and small dairy men are very concerned with rumours concerning the cap negotiations that their payments could be caught by one tort and that this tort would be directed to the eco schemes. They worry that many farmers will not even qualify for these schemes and that a lot of the funding for that would go in administration. Subsidy payments from the EU are and were supposed to be compensation for farmers for producing cheaper food for the consumers of Europe and payments are not a gift. Eco schemes, it appears to many, are to satisfy the Greens and to paralyze farmers and deprive them of finance that they badly need. The cost of feeding and fertiliser, dog control in places like Shrown, going up the slug of the walkers with dogs not tied up, or worrying sheep in those places. I also want to support the call for the feeding licences to be speeded up and the peed for the horticulture. Thank you. Thank you very much, Deputy, we move. Thank you very much, Deputy, we move.
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