Unfairness of CAP distribution is still a key issue for INHFA
THE ‘unfairness and inequity’ of the latest CAP deal that supported ‘large ranchers at the expense of smaller farmers’ was one of the main themes at the launch of the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) in Westport last Friday night.
A number of politicians and INHFA officers who addressed the meeting slammed the manner in which the CAP funds were distributed with a small number of big farmers getting the largest chunk of the EU monies.
Fianna Fáil Spokesman on Agriculture, Éamon Ó Cuív, described the share out of the CAP funds as a ‘travesty and an injustice’ and called for the recognition of the INHFA as a consultative body on all future negotiations.
According to the INHFA, a crowd in the region of 700 people turned out for the launch of the new association at the Castlecourt Hotel with President Vincent Roddy stating that the large crowd showed the interest in the new organisation.
Brendan Joyce, Chairman of the INHFA Livestock Committee, said that one of the priorities of the association was the payment of a €30 top-up for hill ewes.
“How could that organisation [IFA] say boo to the processors while collection €6 million a year to keep some at the top of the organisation in clover,” said Brendan Joyce.
Brendan O’Malley, Chairman of the INHFA Rural Affairs Committee, called for changes to be put in place in the Farm Assist Scheme that wouldn’t adversely impact on farmers who wanted to improve.
He called for an extension of the Rural Social Scheme (RSS) and also attacked the Government for regulations in place that undermined the viability of many credit unions.