Taoiseach Micheál Martin strongly defended Fianna Fáil’s support for farmers, citing his personal involvement in securing an extension of Ireland’s nitrate exemption.
In an exclusive interview with Agriland The Taoiseach said he had worked “particularly effectively” with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Haydon and Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage James Brown to get the above-the-line nitrate exception.
The Taoiseach said Agriland: “We are the only country now in Europe that has obtained this exception.
“I have to put that on record because this is a very important issue for everyone in the world of agriculture, but dairy farming in particular and tillage.”
Ireland is preparing to assume the presidency of the Council of the European Union from July 1 to December 31 of this year.
In a wide-ranging interview, the Prime Minister warned that while Ireland is set to chair crucial discussions on the EU budget – which include the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) – these talks will be “very difficult”.
He said, “The draft proposals are less than the outgoing budget, and we have had a number of discussions about the budget.”
The Taoiseach added: “There is no early indication yet of surrender on any side.”
He also warned that some countries “would like to strengthen the Common Agricultural Policy” and said Ireland would be in that camp.
However, cohesion funding, according to the Taoiseach, is “another big issue”.
More money
“The challenge is that everyone wants to fund more activities – there is less money to do it and some countries want to cut the budget.
“We have those who want to expand and those who want to reduce from where the committee has presented the budget at the moment,” Michel Martin added.
He warned that the budget proposals were set to be “hotly contested”.
“It will be very difficult.
He added: “But the Commission and the Council, and Parliament, agreed that we should finish it by the end of the year, and that will be a big challenge, but that is what we want to do.”
The Taoiseach added: “We want to ensure that the Common Agricultural Policy is not just kept where it is, but that the Common Agricultural Policy is strengthened. But I’m not going to pretend it’s going to be easy.”
Additional reporting by Stella Meehan
