Taoiseach Commits to Full Draw Down of Cap Eu Rural Development Funds

IFA President John Bryan had a constructive meeting with An Taoiseach Enda Kenny recently and welcomed his commitment that all monies available under the new CAP Rural Development Programme will be drawn down by Ireland.

The IFA President said that it was hugely important that the Government provides 50:50 co-financing and ensures matching funding with national top ups, so that there is a strong Rural Development Programme available to support vulnerable sectors and regions.

John Bryan highlighted the need for additional national support for the livestock sector and targeted investment to ensure that the Food Harvest 2020 targets are achieved.

At the meeting, John Bryan highlighted the importance of farming and agri-food sector to economic activity and jobs and presented the Taoiseach with IFA’s pre-Budget submission ‘Investing in Agriculture for Economic Growth’.

The IFA President highlighted the importance of retaining key tax reliefs for agriculture in the upcoming budget and ensuring that the productive sector is not burdened with additional income taxes.

John Bryan raised other key issues for the sector, including concern on upcoming trade deals with Canada and the US, the need for retailer regulation, the availability and costs of bank finance for farm families and the need to improve business competitiveness by reducing Government related costs.

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