This article is from page 91 of the 2007-11-27 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 91 JPG
MACRA na Feirme national presi- dent, Catherine Buckley reacted to Commissioner Fischer Boel’s speech on the Common Agricultural Policy Health Check by stating that any modifications to the current CAP policy must favour new entrants and young farmers.
“The potential impact on new en-
trants and young farmers who are trying to make a go at full-time farming and who traditionally are the hardest hit as the result of policy changes must be taken into account,” she said. Ms Buckley declared that her organisation welcomed the Com- missioner’s assertion that increases in milk quota should be part of the package to allow expansion for those who want to expand in dairying.
“If we are to attract young people into the industry we need radical changes. The targeting of increased quota to new and recent entrants is required to allow the farmers who are the future of the dairy industry to rapidly expand their businesses in the years ahead and to prepare for an environment without milk quotas,” she said. On the matter of the current proposals to raise the rate of modula-
tion to 13%, Ms Buckley said this was totally unacceptable as it would have a negative effect on farmers’ i1n- come and, under current modulation rules, it would not reward farmers who are trying to progress their farm LURID ASAT oIce
Ms Buckley concluded by saying that other aspects of the proposal would need further discussion and debate within her organisation.