IFA Meet Tanaiste Leo Varadkar to Discuss Farming Priorities
IFA President Tim Cullinan and Deputy President Brian Rushe this week led a delegation to meet Tánaiste Leo Varadkar and Minister Martin Heydon on the work programme for farming over the next 12 months.
Among the topics discussed were climate action, including Food Vision proposals and renewable energy.
The IFA President said agriculture has an important role to play in the rural economy and is a central part of climate action.
“We reinforced the priority of producing food sustainably in this country, while meeting our sectoral emission targets. As other sectors of the economy are coming under pressure, we need to focus on the sustainable development of the agriculture sector,” he said.
The meeting also covered the Nitrates Action Programme and the farmer concerns that this is being used as a back door to cut livestock numbers.
Tim Cullinan said the implementation of the next CAP has to underpin farming and food production, and promote the development of the next generation.
The IFA delegation said there was an urgency around food chain legislation to bring more fairness to the relationship between producers and retailers.
The difficulties associated with the Residential Zoned Land Tax were also raised, with IFA emphasising that genuine farmers must not be forced to pay this tax.
