Jul 8th, 2009

Minister Smith and Dept. of Ag. 'cutting everything except their own salaries and bloated expenses' says Cahill

President of ICMSA, Jackie Cahill, said the decision to allocate the modulated funds in the form of grants rather then direct payment is flawed, bizarre and unacceptable. Mr Cahill said it proved yet again how removed from reality the Minister and his Department actually are. Linking eligibility for the grants to yet more expenditure on the part of dairy farmers is both wrong and unfair. Dairy farmers are well aware of the fact that the Government utterly reneged on the payment of grants under the Farm Waste Management Scheme in a manner that left thousands of farmers with increased borrowings. That grubby tactic notwithstanding, the Minister’s proposal today is for farmers to borrow even more and spend even more. Mr Cahill said the nonsense had to end and the €45 million should be paid out directly to farmers as provided for under EU legislation.

Mr Cahill concluded by stating that the cuts announced today in Disadvantaged Areas Scheme and REPS will further collapse farm incomes below their already critical levels and farmers would now have to accept that the Minister and his department will cut everything excepting their own salaries and bloated expenses.

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