Eu Clearance for €10/ewe Sheep Payment
IFA National Sheep Committee Chairman James Murphy today welcomed the announcement by the Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith to pay out the €10/ewe Sheep Grassland payment from February 1st. James Murphy said this payment is due since December 8<sup>th</sup> but was held up by technical queries at EU level which have now being resolved.
Mr Murphy said the announcement of the €10/ewe payment is a strong confidence boost for the sheep sector as we head into another lambing season.
James Murphy said IFA had fought a long and hard campaign over 2 years for additional direct support for sheep. He said, “This €10/ewe or €18m p.a. is a direct result of IFA’s work at both national and EU level to secure extra funds for the sheep sector.”
The IFA sheep farmers’ leader said it is essential that this new payment is built upon by any new Government in the context of securing a solid and worthwhile coupled payment for sheep in the CAP 2013 debate over the next 2 years.
