The €13.7 million share of the emergency funding agreed for Ireland’s farmers would be irrelevant for the individual farmer but, as food aid, would be more valuable to needy Irish citizens.

This was the response of Independent MEP Marian Harkin to the allocation of the €13.7 million allocated by the Council of Agriculture Minsters yesterday, Tuesday, September 16th.

“The battle at EU level to maintain a focus on the vital role of farming in ensuring a secure supply of quality food for EU citizens, and meeting necessary environmental targets involves emphasis on the public good dimension of the Common Agricultural Policy”, she said.  The €14.56 million allocated to Ireland this week was so irrelevant to farmers current incomes that it would be better used as a further public good to be credited to farming, Marian Harkin proposed.

“The difficulty in devising a fair method of identifying farmers deserving financial support, together with  cost of administration of any new scheme, emphasises the need to use this money in a way that will be to the longterm interests of all farmers”, Independent MEP Marian Harkin concluded.