The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers’ Association (ICMSA) has welcomed the conclusion of negotiations on a new Farmers’ Charter.
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and farming organisations yesterday (Tuesday, July 2) reached an agreement on the charter.
The document, to be published in the coming days, sets out the timelines for applications, payments, inspections and appeals.
ICMSA
ICMSA deputy president Eamon Carroll said that the charter provides “a basis and reference” to ensure farmers are “treated fairly and reasonably in their dealings with the department”.
However, he said that the success or failure of the charter was “completely dependent on its implementation and the commitment that officials brought to their obligations”.
Carroll said that Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue should have ensured that the negotiations were concluded in 2023.
He said that “farmers had paid a heavy price during that period in the absence of the charter” pointing to scheme payment delays.
The ICMSA previously secured a commitment from Minister McConalogue that the payment dates would revert to pre-2023 calendar dates going forward.
Carroll said that these early payment dates were among “the most important commitments” contained in the charter.
Farmers’ Charter
The ICMSA deputy president said there had been a “significant change” in terms of farm inspections.
He said that inspections for agri-environmental schemes would move from being unannounced to “now generally involving up to 48 hours notice being given”.
He said the department had committed “to provide the maximum allowable under EU legislation for all schemes in normal circumstances”.
“In this day and age, it is simply unacceptable for an individual farmer to be expected to ‘down tools’ and deal with an inspection without adequate notice – particularly given the pressures on fulltime farmers – as well as the difficulty in part-time farmers getting time off their jobs at short notice.
“We need to deal with the realities of farming and that means adequate notice of inspection – which in the next CAP negotiations – being increased beyond 48 hours,” Carroll said.
A Charter Monitoring Committee, including DAFM and farm organisations, will be now established to monitor agreed targets and standards.
Minister McConalogue has appointed Dr. Seán Brady as the independent chairperson of the committee. Dr. Brady presided over the monitoring committee of the previous charter.
The ICMSA said that the first priority of the committee should be to seek a full review of Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) reference costs which should be applied retrospectively to all investments completed in 2024.