Farmers Should Examine Individual Cap Statements on Entitlements Very Closely – Downey

IFA President Eddie Downey has said that farmers should examine their individual CAP entitlement statements very carefully, as farmers receive their statements on entitlements for 2015 to 2019 from the Department of Agriculture this week.

He said, “Throughout the CAP reform negotiations, IFA strongly opposed the Ciolos proposals for flat payments and regionalisation, and resisted severe cuts to Ireland’s CAP budget”.

He continued, “A strong campaign by IFA throughout 2013 and 2014 secured EU funding for the CAP single farm payment of €1.2bn pa for Irish farmers up to 2020. In addition, IFA fought a tough campaign with Government resulting in a funding commitment of an average of €560m per year under the Rural Development Programme to fund critical farm schemes, such as GLAS, Disadvantaged Areas, TAMS and Suckler Cow Genomics”.

Mr Downey advised farmers to closely examine their individual statements and check that they are accurate and correct. He said, “Given the changes in CAP reform and the critical importance of the 2015 application, farmers should commence the work on making their applications with their advisors as soon as possible”.