IFA President Rejects Cypriot Proposal to Cut Cap Funding

Speaking in Brussels, where he is attending a meeting in COPA, IFA President John Bryan has rejected the proposals from the Cypriot Presidency which would see a reduction in the overall CAP Budget post-2013.
John Bryan said, “We must have a fully-funded Single Farm Payment and Rural Development Programme in place from 2014. Farmers are coping with significantly higher input costs and any cuts in either Pillar 1 or Pillar 2 would have a negative impact on production and family farming”.

The IFA President again called on the Taoiseach Enda Kenny to resist pressure from some Member States for cuts in CAP funding. “At the Heads of Government meeting next month, the Irish Government must ensure the full annual allocations for Ireland of €1.25bn for the Single Farm Payment and €350m for Rural Development schemes.”

John Bryan will use the opportunity at today’s gathering of European farm leaders at COPA to meet with the Presidents of the French farmers’ union FNSEA and the German DBV to seek support for the IFA’s position on the CAP Budget.