EU CAP plan 'sends a chilling message' on farm incomes - ICSA
The Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers' Association (ICSA) has said that the European Commission's proposal on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) "sends a chilling message" on farm incomes.
Speaking after a meeting with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon on its Budget 2026 submission, the ICSA called the cuts to the CAP budget a "betrayal", and called on the government to use Budget 2026 to signal its support for the farming community.
"The ICSA left the minister in absolutely no doubt that the commission's proposal to cut the CAP budget by 20% is a complete betrayal of family farms and must be challenged at every level," ICSA president Sean McNamara said.
"What we saw from Brussels this week amounts to nothing short of the dismantling of the CAP in everything but name.
"Scrapping the two-pillar model, phasing out income supports for older farmers, and shifting the funding burden back to member states is a recipe for disaster. It sends a chilling message that farm incomes, food security and rural communities no longer matter to the EU elite," McNamara said.
According to the ICSA president, the proposed CAP cuts would hit low-income beef, sheep and suckler farms the hardest.
"These sectors risk being decimated completely. But the impact goes far beyond farmers - it threatens the very fabric of rural Ireland, undermining local economics, rural communities and any credible pathway to generational renewal," he said.
McNamara said that he urged Minister Heydon to "lead a united national effort to push back against the commission's proposals and to ensure that Irish farming is not sacrificed at EU level".
"We are at risk of losing the very people who produce our food, protect our environment, and hold rural Ireland together."
"In this context Budget 2026 must send a strong signal of national commitment safeguarding Irish agriculture. The government must show it has farmers' back," McNamara said.
The ICSA's comments come as part of an ongoing rejection on the part of Irish farm organisations to the European Commission's CAP proposals.
Most recently, the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers’ Association (INHFA) has said that a proposal by the European Commission to cut the CAP budget “must be reassessed".
As discussions begin on the format of the next CAP programme, the INHFA has insisted that the proposed budget cut of 23% and the consolidation into one pillar must be part of any discussion.
INHFA national committee chair Pheilim Molloy stressed the need to protect the overall budget and the two pillar model.
He called on Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon and all Irish MEPs “to do everything possible in protecting our interests”.
