The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association has stepped up its campaign to have Ireland opt for the full decoupling of direct payments to farmers from agricultural production.
At an executive council meeting in Dublin yesterday, the association decided unanimously that it should pursue the implementation of full decoupling in the Luxembourg agreement.
When the European Farm Ministers agreed to reform the CAP last week, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Fisheries, Dr Franz Fischler, gave each member-state the option of full or partial decoupling.
The ICSFA, the smallest farm organisation in the State with about 5,500 members, had supported full decoupling from the outset because most of its members are involved in beef production and would benefit most from the reduction in red tape.
"ICSFA was delighted when Minister Walsh left last week's Luxembourg CAP reform talks having succeeded in ensuring that full decoupling remains a real option for Irish farmers," said its president, Mr John Deegan.
Mr Deegan, who had earlier met the Minister to discuss implementation of the agreement, called on Mr Walsh and the other farm organisations to support the simplified and decoupled system.
Asked if was unhappy with the dairy element of the agreement, Mr Deegan said he believed the dairy market support cuts being imposed would hurt the small dairy farmer and he was sorry for them.
"However, the bigger dairy farmer has had it good enough for long enough and sometimes at our expense by producing very poor quality calves for beef from dairy herds," he said.
"I believe the large dairy farmers will be able to absorb the cuts that will be made."
The ICOS, the umbrella body for Irish co-operatives, yesterday defended the record of the dairy industry in relation to the use of EU supports for dairy products. "The Irish dairy sector operates in a EU market which is 110 per cent self-sufficient.
"Therefore, the surplus has to be either exported or stored".