Cut in farm incentives 'will force young out'
FAILURE to restore schemes designed to aid young people entering agriculture will result in an emigration drain from rural areas, farmers warned last night.
Kicking off their campaign against the Budget cuts, farmers vowed to step up pressure on the Government over its "disproportionate attack" on the agricultural sector.
The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) president Padraig Walshe said rural areas could soon witness a return to a situation where parishes are no longer able to field full GAA teams.
The suspension of new applications for the early retirement and young farmer installation schemes, worth €15,000 to each young farmer, was described as a "blow".
"Failure to restore these schemes will lead to an increase in emigration from rural areas, which would be the ultimate indictment of Government policy," Mr Walshe said.
The disadvantaged areas scheme -- which suffered a cut of more than €35m -- has always been the "bedrock" of Fianna Fail commitments to low-income farmers, particularly along the west coast, Mr Walshe claimed.
The first of a series of public meetings on the Budget was held in Claremorris, Co Mayo, last night, with the next meeting planned for Cootehill, Co Cavan, on Ttuesday.
Commitment
Mr Walshe urged Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith to "keep faith" with the political commitment which "has sustained rural society in peripheral areas for the past 30 years".
The minister has already pointed out that high levels of public funds have been committed to the development of the sector in recent years, including more support for the successful rural environment protection scheme.
Mr Smith has said the difficult Budget decisions were designed to protect those measures which will ensure the development of a productive and competitive sector.
At the IFA meeting, farmers were urged to secure a commitment from TDs for a reversal of cuts, which, they say, will hit 60,000 low income farmers.
- Louise Hogan
