Agriculture:The Government announced an overall increase in the Department of Agriculture estimate of 10 per cent yesterday.
Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan said that capital savings for last year of €18.2 million brought funding available to her department next year to €1.508 billion.
This marks a 10 per cent increase compared to the outturn and including the capital carry-over from 2005.
Ms Coughlan pointed out that the 2006 estimate provided for additional funds of €139 million, of which €86 million would be for the schemes most in demand: compensatory allowances, the Rural Environmental Protection Scheme, on-farm investment grants and forestry.
The Minister expressed concern at the lack of take-up for the other demand-led scheme, the early retirement scheme for farmers, and said it would have to be looked at and perhaps amended.
The reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, which has replaced the old EU headage schemes with one single payment, means the Department of Agriculture will lose staff who will be deployed to other areas, the Minister said.
It has been estimated that Agriculture will lose 10 per cent of its staff, around 400 people. While this has not yet gained momentum, it was reflected in the modest increase of only 2 per cent in salaries, wages and allowances.
President of the Irish Farmers’ Association John Dillon said the increase in spending would "broadly meet the requirements of the sector for the coming year". Both he and Macra na Feirme, the young farmers’ organisation, called for an upgrading of the early retirement scheme and criticised the 9 per cent decrease in the allocation to €78,807, which is also used as installation aid for young farmers.
Macra’s national president Colm Markey said the pension needed to be increased substantially, indexedlinked and the off-farm income limit should be scrapped.
Ms Coughlan said EU-funded direct payments to farmers will amount to approximately €1.5 billion next year, bringing total gross expenditure in her Department in 2006 to more than €3 billion.