Single Payment Cuts To Replace Government Funding

“This is just daylight robbery and farmers won’t be fooled by it. It is outrageous for the Minister to be even thinking of applying further cuts to the Single Payment on top of the severe cuts caused by modulation."

“The Minister needs to front up and defend agriculture at the cabinet table. You don’t hear the Minister for Public Sector Reform talking about any further cuts to public sector pay, so why should the Minister for Agriculture cave in on further cuts to farmers?"

"It is important to understand clearly what is going on here. The government is trying to renege on the funding of the Suckler Welfare Scheme which is costing less than €30 million per annum."

"Instead of just being honest about it, they are trying to gloss over it by cutting every farmer by one or two per cent on their Single Payment. This is just the thin end of the wedge. It is high time that the government walked the walk on agriculture after spending most of 2011 talking it up."

"Fine speeches about Food Harvest 2020 are all very well but the key measure is what they actually do. This latest plan is a con job and farmers won’t fall for it. Support for suckler farmers is vital but we don’t want to see it at the expense of beef or sheep farmers.”