Leitrim TD urges Minister to ‘stand up for family farms’ amid EU CAP reforms

Sinn Féin’s agriculture spokesperson and Leitrim TD, Martin Kenny, has raised serious concerns about draft plans to change how the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is funded.

Farmers across Ireland fear bad news as the European Commission looks to merge CAP with other areas like migration and infrastructure. This would mean agriculture no longer has a protected budget.

According to a draft proposal seen by Reuters, Brussels is also planning to cap how much EU subsidy a single farmer can receive each year. The goal is to shift more funds towards smaller farms.

The draft suggests a limit of €100,000 per year on area-based income support for each farmer. This would also reduce per-hectare payments for those getting the most money.

Currently, CAP has two parts made up of direct payments to farmers, and rural development, and the draft proposal aims to combine these into one single funding system.

Deputy Kenny has emphasised that the two-pillar structure of the CAP budget is “vital” to supporting farm incomes, with pillar one providing direct payments to farmers.

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“This direct payment gives farmers certainty over the five years and allows them to plan and to know what income they will be receiving for this period,” he said.

“Pillar two provides funding for environmental and welfare schemes which are vital to combating emissions in the agriculture sector. This two-pillar structure has worked well and has provided funding enabling Irish agriculture to develop to a level where we produce products of the highest standards in the world,” he added.

Deputy Kenny has urged the Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon TD, to defend Irish family farms and the future of Irish agriculture.

“The Minister for Agriculture must stand up for Irish family farms and for the future of Irish Agriculture in Brussels today. Ireland must be at the fore in opposing the dismantling of the CAP budget,” he said.

“We cannot allow for the CAP budget to be merged with other cohesion funds and given to the member states to allocate as they see fit. Irish agriculture and family farms need certainty that their livelihoods will be supported and protected.”

He further warned that agricultural funding cannot be cut simply because government priorities shift under a new budget structure.

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“There are serious threats to food security with the threat of tariffs, a trade war, and the impacts of the war in Ukraine on supply chains.”

The EU budget process will begin once the Commission publishes its proposal, triggering negotiations and a final vote. The new budget would come into effect in 2028.

“The aim of CAP when it was established was to protect food security and now more than ever, Irish and EU consumers need to protect food security,” he concluded.