Reduced Cap payments to farmers would be ‘devastating for Irish agriculture’ - Minister

Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has warned that a proposed 24 per cent decrease in funding for the EU Common Agricultural Policy (Cap) scheme “would be devastating for Irish agriculture”.

Increasing subsidy payments to Irish farmers as part of the Cap will be “a challenge”, the EU commissioner for agriculture Christophe Hansen has said, with “member states that want to contribute less” to its budget.

Hansen, from Luxembourg, said the current proposals are based “on the promised and expected contributions from the different member states” and, given some members’ reluctance to increase their contribution, “it is difficult to distribute more”.

“The challenges I have are big,” the commissioner said. “We are discussing, as well, the future Common Agricultural Policy’s multiannual financial framework.”

Hansen said he is “engaging very intensively” with continuing negotiations, but could not make any promises on a proposal of €500 billion for broader funding of agriculture. “We have to be real – if we get this around €400 billion for the farming sector for the future, that would be a big achievement.”

Cap payments are subsidies paid to farmers and rural communities and include basic income support for sustainable projects, increased productivity and infrastructure improvements.

The average Irish farmer receives €7,500 in basic payments, topped up by regional and scheme payments, though the total received by any individual farmer ranges widely.

The Government is currently involved with negotiations on the European Union’s budget for 2028 to 2034 as part of the State’s six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon said he is “working really closely with commissioner Hansen. He’s hearing first-hand from farmers today the concern there is about the future of Cap.”

[ EU agricultural policy needs to make clear link between subsidies and emissions reductionsOpens in new window ]

Speaking to reporters at the National Ploughing Championships in Screggan, Co Offaly, Heydon said: “Everything we do is about trying to give certainty to the next generation of farmers, about generational renewal – something that’s really important to commissioner Hansen.”

Heydon said the current proposal of a 24 per cent decrease in funding for the Cap scheme “would be devastating for Irish agriculture” and that “a properly funded Cap” is desired by all ministers for agriculture across the bloc.

“It’s very clear, food security is an integral part of the discussion” on broader defence and security, he said. “It’s not Cap or security, it’s food security being an integral part of that and recognising that hunger is the biggest cause of conflict in the world.”

Hansen said it has been “a very difficult year for farming, for various reasons” and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in particular “has hit very strongly the fertiliser prices” in Ireland and across Europe.

“This is a huge challenge – that is why [the] European Commission has decided [to introduce] a fertiliser action plan” of €540 million, which “member states can top up ... by 200 per cent, so we potentially have €1.6 billion available for European farmers,” he said.