| Speaking at the Ploughing Championships in Athy, Co Kildare, IFA President John Bryan said the farming community was ready and willing to meet the Government targets for growth in the sector. However, clear direction and policy supports must now be set out by the Government, and he called on Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith to provide certainty by ensuring that all the key farm schemes are fully funded going forward. The IFA President said the vibrancy of the sector was evident among the farm families attending the Ploughing Championships. “The level of activity in the rural economy is clear to see in Athy today, with over 1,000 businesses dependent on the farming community displaying their goods.” Mr Bryan said, “a priority in the upcoming Budget must be to maintain funding for all existing schemes and to ensure that a properly funded AEOS scheme is available to the 25,000 farmers who will be leaving the REPS scheme by May of next year.” The IFA President also said that it is vital that the Suckler Cow payment must be restored to €80 per head to support the massively important export driven, quality Irish beef production. Mr Bryan said “current forest premium levels, provision for the Government’s 10,000ha annual planting target and expansion of the forest roads scheme must also be fully funded.” He pointed out that the recovery in agriculture needs to be supported by the Government and that means safeguarding farm schemes and investing to improve our competitiveness and productive capacity. “There is no doubt that investment in the agri-food sector will generate a significant return in terms of economic growth, exports and jobs. Government policy must be seen to drive down costs and bureaucracy in our economy. To date, increased carbon and electricity taxes are undermining our competitiveness and putting the productive, export-led sector under increased pressure in the marketplace and must change,” he concluded. |
Friday, 24 September 2010 13:35