Agriculture

Irish farmers, their families and the rural communities they make up have found themselves in an impossible position in the Ireland of the 1990s. The years of CAP funding have created gross inequities where 80% of the benefits have gone to 20% of the farmers. Now thousands of farmers have found themselves either in debt or working holdings which have been deemed economically unviable. Teagasc the agricultural advisory body in the 26 Counties has estimated that up to 5,000 people will leave farming every year in the 1990s. Furthermore despite the fact that EU funds now account for approximately 50% of average farm income, there is no concern in government at our dependency on the EU or on its effects on the Irish economy.