ARV-A-10-20112008 Environmental Special - Breandan O Scannaill 20nov2008

The transcription is about an inspection of sheep numbers in Connemara, which involved Department of Agriculture personnel and helicopters. Some people feel targeted and aggrieved by the inspection. There are concerns about the impact of budget cuts on farmers. There was a recent meeting about the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) health check and an agreement was reached with the EU Agricultural Minister. There is talk of a sheep package for farmers, but it is unclear where the funding will come from. The minister may redirect funds into other areas instead of the sheep sector. The meeting on December 1st will address these issues. Now joining me on the line is Martin Gavin. Martin, you're welcome to us again. Thanks, Fred. Martin, we had a press release which talked about helicopters and ground force invading Connemara. It sounds like something from outer space or something. It's not a funny thing, unfortunately, but what was actually happening? What's this all about? Well, the inspection that was there was about two weeks ago at this stage. It was an inspection of the sheep numbers of Connemara. And it involved a sizable amount of Department of Agriculture personnel to go out and count the sheep and helicopters then to check to see if there was any sheep left in the hill. So that's basically what it was about. Part of the grievance about it is that people feel they're being targeted in the time when they're being cut and they're hedged and that, which they have a point as well. But that's what has happened and people feel aggrieved by it. And look, the same thing is proposed to happen next year. As you say, something we'll probably just have to get used to. Yeah, well, I suppose, you know. In general, you see, what happened with the inspection, I think, I was at the meeting, I met the department there last Monday and, you know, the department were pretty well satisfied with the number of, you know, what they had seen because there were some sheep in the hill, right, but there were sheep that they knew were going to be there because, you know, for one reason or another, there were a few families that couldn't collect them, but they had notified the department. So the department knew they were there and, you know, there wasn't a problem then, you know. Yeah. But any real problem might have been defied as such now out of it, you know. Yeah. But, you know, I suppose this is the first year for the farmers on the ground, really, is the most thing and, you know, heading into the winter with this kind of weather and, you know, maybe some farmers might have, you know, keeping a sizable amount of their flock now down on the lowland and, you know, that's going to be, you know, if we get this kind of weather, that's going to be pretty difficult. And I suppose, you know, farmers shouldn't be afraid to change, you know, if they are running into problems that they don't, you know, that they don't continue or maybe the sheep off the hill that they're not supposed to, you know, they want to be careful on that line, you know what I mean, that they still continue to comply because that is the biggest problem they're liable for an inspection, you know, at any time, if you like, as well as etching. Yeah, yeah. Now, I know that a couple of weeks ago we were talking, you were talking about the cuts in the budget. Yeah. And I know there was a very big meeting last weekend up in Carrick and Shannon. Is this something that's going to kind of continue on? Well, it is, yeah. There's one plan for Mammacross, actually, on Monday the 1st of December. A rally, like they say, has something similar planned for Mammacross that night. So it is something that's going to continue to a certain extent, I presume, you know, so. Yeah. I mean, there were some very, very passionate people out there talking about how it's going to affect them and, you know, the problems that they were facing. And I suppose when you hear somebody like that talking about it, it really hits what the situation is. Yeah, well, look at it, I suppose, if you look at Connemara, you're probably looking at a quarter of a, if you look at Connemara, say the Mamm Turks 12 bins, you're probably coming close to a quarter of a million per annum. Yeah. You know what I mean? So that's, you see, that's a sizable amount of money. And I was up in the area where maybe quite a number of these people that was working on the building might have also lost their jobs, you know. Yeah. So you're talking, you're looking at a sizable cut in the likes of Connemara, you know. Because there's, you know, there's over, I don't know how many farmers there, there's 250 farmers and most of them would be losing a thousand, you know. Yeah, yeah. So that's a big, all added up together, it's a lot of money, as you say. It is, yeah. It's a thousand euros to one sector of the community that's, you know, they're, you know, farmers are going for spending the money, I suppose, really. You know, they invest it back into farming, that's the case, you know. It is money that's going to be out of circulation. Now, it's not this year because the cut doesn't come until next year, but that's the other thing. Now, of course, the more up-to-date news, I suppose, is the CAP health check, which took place, concluded today, the agreement reached today with the EU Agricultural Minister. So, you know, that is also, you know, starting things up a bit now as well because there was, you know, the department are looking at a sheep, at a package for sheep farmers as well, you know. So the minister didn't come out quite clear today when, you know, when he did succeed in getting the agreement at EU level to specify where this money was going, you know. So that would be, that would be a bit of a worry for us now that, you know, that he would try to, you know, solve several different problems with a small budget and, you know, everybody getting a few quid that wouldn't be worth applying for in a lot of cases, you know. Yeah, yeah. Now, so what was this check, the health check you were doing, what were they looking at? Yeah, it's a mid-term review of the Common Agricultural Policy, which covers all the single-farm payments, WEPs, all these kind of things. Now, it is normal for, you know, this Common Agricultural Policy we have now is running up to 2013. So this is more or less a half way. We had one there when it changed over from we're getting paid a per head basis on yield premium and sub-per house and all that kind of thing, and this went over then onto an acreage payment. So that was the start of this part of the policy, if you like. Now that has been running since 2003, I suppose, yeah. So now you're looking at kind of a mid-term review of it, and this is part of something that has come out of it now, you know. What has happened is there's a 5% increase in the modulated funds. And what that means is that for any farmer that's getting over 5,000 of the single-farm payments, they're already suffering a 5% fallback, if you like, for what's called these modulated funds, which, you know, pays for like what I was talking about there now. Now that's going to be increased from 5% up to 7% next year, and it will increase by 1% until it reaches 10% in 2012. So you're looking at for anybody that's over 5,000, there's going to be 10% of that fallback by 2012. So they're going to give it with one hand and take it back with the other kind of thing? Yeah. Yeah. Now, we would hope that, well, not we would hope, I think that as far as I can understand that that money is either not come back in, or it's not going out of the farming sector, if you like. Well, it might be going to different farmers. It's not going out of the pot that's coming for the farmers. It will redirect it back into, say, reps and climate control, alternative energy, things like that, you know. Now, look, it remains to be seen what they are yet, you know, but, you know, there won't be a huge fraction there either from that. Yeah, yeah. This money then, this sheep package, this is coming out of unspent funds that they are in the Common Agricultural Policy for Ireland, and it's for people that would have qualified for a single-family payment that didn't claim on it. There's a bunch of it there. I don't know how much it might be in it now. It's hard to figure out. Forty million have been there, but I don't know whether that's exactly what they need or not. That's the money that was hoped would be a mark for the sheep sector, but I don't know whether the minister has anything else in his mind on that part of it, you know. Yeah. And is that going to be just exclusively for Irish farmers, or is that to cover all of the EU? Oh, it's covering all. Now, it's covering all. This health check is covering all because it was between all the EU ministers, you know. Yeah. So they all can redirect this money back to where they see fit themselves. It would be left up to member states to do what they want with it, you know. So I think it's all to play for here now, because the minister could have signaled today that he was going to direct this money into the sheep sector, and put a lot of pressure on him for it to do, but so far he hasn't done that now, you know. Yeah. He might be just playing the cards close to the chest for the time being. That doesn't lend any kind of, you know, the sheep industry is in a fairly crisis situation, and that doesn't help the thing either. No. It's been fairly clear on various policy days, you know. Yeah, yeah. Hiving off bits here and there, you know, doesn't give any confidence to, you know, the people that's working in the industry and like that. That would be regrettable now if he wants to go messing about with it, you know. Yeah. So anything else there on the farming scene? Oh, that's kind of, that's the news of the day, if you like. That agreement was only reached this morning, so that's, you know, in the next number of weeks I presume that it will become a lot clearer, you know. But I think, you know, I think our politicians will have a lot to play on this one as well, you know. Yeah. So that's it on the meeting forum. I'm pressed on the 1st of December. Minister Cleave is going to address that meeting, so. What time is that, do you know? Pardon? What time? It's at 8 o'clock, I think. Okay. Yeah. Although it will be more advertised now in the next, you know, when it is finally, but it is tied down at that now, so that's where it's at. Okay. Well, Martin, we'll talk to you again closer to the time, and we'll remind people of it as it's coming to that time as well. So thanks for coming in and talking to us. Thanks, Linda. Okay, bye. That's Martin Gavin there, our farming correspondent.