Sucklers, sheep and a new REPS are the key priorities for Roche
EAST Galway Fine Gael candidate, Cllr. Pete Roche, has pledged his commitment to three main farming issues if elected to the next Dáil – a €200 per cow suckler payment; an increase in the ‘ewe payment’; and the introduction of a new and ‘better paid’ environmental scheme.
Cllr. Roche told the Farming Tribune that farming continued to be one of the rocks that the whole economic and social fabric of the West of Ireland was built upon and needed to be supported stronger than ever before.
“I believe that the suckler cow and sheep sectors are the enterprises that really need to be bolstered up over the coming years.
“The commitment is there to put in place a €200 per animal suckler cow scheme while there is also a pledge to increase the ewe grant in the Sheep Welfare Scheme,” said Cllr. Roche.
He also pointed out that of equal importance, at a time when environmental and climate change issues were to the fore, was the putting in place of a new, expanded and simplified GLAS or REPS type scheme.
“As things stand, farmers in the West of Ireland are ticking most of the boxes in terms of going about their business in an environmentally friendly fashion, but they never seem to get any credit for this.
“What I will be pushing for if elected, is a new environmental scheme with a payment level of up to €10,000 per annum – a scheme that will be simple and workable with a minimum of paperwork or red tape. I think that this is an achievable goal,” said Cllr. Roche.
He also added that he and the Fine Gael party were committed to the BEAM (Beef Exceptional Aid Measure) scheme, picking up from where it left off from the May 12, 2019, cut-off point of BEAM I.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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