ICMSA meet Minister Heydon as Irish farming enters “critical period”

Speaking after leading a delegation of ICMSA national officers to meet Minister for Agriculture, Food & Marine, Martin Heydon, the President of ICMSA, Denis Drennan said that the meeting had gone into detail on the issues facing Irish farming and the wider agri sector in the critical upcoming period. Describing the remainder of 2025 as a critical period, Mr Drennan said it was difficult to remember a time in Irish agriculture when so much was at stake. We simply had to this this right if Irish agriculture – and the rural communities that depended on it – were to have the positive future that their efforts and skill merited and to which they were entitled to aspire.

Listing the EU Vision for Agriculture, Nitrates, BTB and trade issues, Mr. Drennan said the issues facing farmers are vast, but progress was possible. He said the Minister and Government must immediately set out their plans on how they intended addressing these issues and how farm families can earn an income comparable to other sectors of the economy and so ensure the next generation of farmers will freely choose the role.   

On the EU Vision for Agriculture, Mr. Drennan told the Minister that the positive sentiments and feelgood ‘vibes’ must be turned into real actions through simplification and protecting strengthening the position and margins of farmers in the food supply chain. An increased CAP budget post 2027 will be critical in this regard, the ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ strategy of the last twenty years had not worked and never would work.

On Nitrates, the retention of the Derogation with practical and sensible rules is an absolute requirement and the delegation told the Minister that the Government simply cannot continue to load more and more regulations on farmers. In fact, a full review of existing rules should be carried out and ineffective rules should be removed.  Farmers completely accepted the need to protect and improve water quality, but that could and should be done in a way that did not that did not obliterate farmers, said Mr. Drennan.

Turning to TB, the Minister was told of the massive concern amongst farmers in relation to TB levels and the failure of Department to address it.  Farm families are suffering badly because of this failure and the Department needs to put a comprehensive and evidence-based plan in place immediately while treating affected farm families with the fairness and respect that they deserve.

On trade issues, ICMSA was very clear with the Minister that the Government cannot accept the Mercusor agreement and token commitments on sustainability and short-term compensation cannot be used as excuses to accept the agreement.

On farm schemes and their administration, Mr. Drennan said that the delays in ACRES were just unacceptable and very demoralising and financially challenging for the farmers involved – the Minister should instruct the Department to issue the payments immediately.  On TAMS, the reference costs needed to be updated immediately and fast-track approvals for slurry storage should be put in place so that works can commence in April. The question of the Govt’s commitment on exempting slurry storage from planning permission was also touched upon.

Income volatility had been widely accepted as a key impediment to attracting the next generation into farming and Mr. Drennan said that the commitment made in Budget 2025 on volatility must be delivered in Budget 2026.

Concluding, Mr. Drennan thanked Minister Heydon and his officials for the meeting, and he said that he had no doubt but that the importance and gravity of the issues they all faced together had been impressed upon the Minister.

Ends    5 March 2025

Denis Drennan, 086-8389401

President, ICMSA

Or

Cathal MacCarthy, 087-6168758

ICMSA Press Office