PRESS RELEASE

11/07/2005

Labour and the Greens bid to Make Farmers History - Kelleher

Government Deputy Chief Whip Billy Kelleher TD has said it is now clear the Labour party will be aligning with the Greens to destroy the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

‘Labour Party president Michael D. Higgins endorsed the recent Green motion on development aid which would have very serious implications for the CAP.

‘The Green motion demanded a “re-examination of subsidies given to producers in the developed world”. Everyone knows this is code for “Scrap The CAP”.

‘During the Dáil debate, Dublin Green TD Eamon Ryan confidently claimed that his party would convert Fine Gael to his party’s agricultural policies. Well, it would now appear that he will have the Labour party on his side.

‘Deputy Higgins appears to be showing the same understanding of Irish farming as that of his predecessor, Proinsias de Rossa who, while a Cabinet minister, told us that farmers were “rolling in it”.

‘The CAP is not just vital for farmers - it is vital for everyone in Ireland that we have a vibrant and thriving agricultural sector. In 2004, the CAP was worth €1.64 billion to Ireland - and it is fundamental to the future of Irish farming. Scrapping the CAP would Make Farmers History.

‘It is clear that with allies like these, Fine Gael claims that they are on the side of rural Ireland are increasingly threadbare. Only Fianna Fáil can be trusted to safeguard Irish farming and develop rural Ireland,” said Deputy Kelleher, who represents Fianna Fáil in Cork North-Central.

ENDS