DARD urged to practice what they preach
Sinn Fein Agriculture spokesperson, Fermanagh South Tyrone MP Michelle
Gildernew
has challenged the Department of Agriculture and Rural
Development to
practice what they preach after DARD Permanent Secretary Mr
Pat Toal,
claimed that one of the key features of CAP reform was to
provide
'maximum possible facilitation to help farmers'.
Speaking as
delegates from the EU Paying Agencies from across Europe meet
in
Belfast to discuss CAP reform Ms Gildernew said:
"It will be
interesting to hear the outcomes of this conference, in terms
of how
other member states are performing in getting the Single Farm
payment
out to their farmers by the end of this year.
"DARD have already
accepted that no money will be paid this year to hard
pressed farmers
here, in fact it may be well into 2006 before farmers get
what they are
entitled to.
"Cutting red tape and allowing farmers the freedom
to farm was one of the
two principles that was meant to underpin CAP
reform and one of its was
one of the main selling points. Yet the
reality to date is that this has
not happened.
"However, Pat
Toal must practice what he preaches when it comes claims
that the
department has acted on the second principle, to ensure 'the
maximum
possible facilitation to help farmers understand and adjust to the
new
regime'. The fact is that DARD have not put this into practice.
"Sinn
Féin requested that the department engage more directly with the
farming
community, by holding their own meetings and putting more staff in
local
offices to assist with the complicated Maps and IACS applications
this
year. However, this local assistance was extremely poor and whenever
the
deadline came for submitting applications DARD again showed their
inflexibility
by not opening offices later and at weekends.
"In no way has
DARD's performance, in my opinion, been to provide the
'maximum
possible facilitation'. There is a window of opportunity to
address
this failure but it is fast closing. Hopefully Pat Toal will come
away
from this conference with a greater appreciation of how others within
the
EU are doing more to both cut red tape and give maximum support to the
farming
community." ENDS