Debate contribution: Farmers' Basic Payment Scheme

Debate contribution by Mr Patsy McGlone on 7 October 2024.

MLA

Mr Patsy McGlone

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

7 October 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Farmers' Basic Payment Scheme

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4579717

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Mo bhuíochas leat, a Phríomh-Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

I welcome the debate and the recognition of the significant investment made by the single farm payment and the EU common agricultural policy in rural communities and businesses. While we agree with the intent of the motion, in our view, it is incomplete. That is why we believe that our amendment is necessary. There were two pillars to the EU common agricultural policy, and both of them, as we well know, played an important part in supporting rural communities and the rural economy. The motion mentions only the direct payments under pillar 1, but the pillar 2 payments for rural development were also crucial. However, after Brexit, the British Government did not properly replace the pillar 2 funding stream, as many of us know. As a result, we have lost access to nearly £100 million of funding that should have been invested in our rural communities. Our amendment seeks to acknowledge that loss. Let us be clear: this issue is up for debate today directly because of the Brexit that the DUP campaigned for, which the SDLP and others opposed. That is a simple fact. We all know the importance of the agri-food sector to our rural and wider economy. It is one of our most vital industries, supporting tens of thousands of jobs and generating over £2·87 billion in output in 2023. The bedrock of that sector is farming, with many small farms, most of them family-owned and run, dotted across the rural landscape. For years, those farmers have been supported by EU funding that was made available through our membership of the European Union. That funding, whatever problems some may have had with it, ensured a level playing field for farmers across the EU and between these islands. That funding was consistent and, importantly, it allowed farmers to plan ahead financially. That was all thrown into chaos by Brexit. Previous friends of the DUP in the British Conservative Party promised to match EU agricultural funding. They have not matched the inflationary pressures that have followed, which has led to cuts in real terms to the funding that is available. Those are cuts that the DUP, more than any other party here, bears some political responsibility for. The annual funding allocation to replace the EU's common agricultural policy payments has been capped since 2020 at approximately £330 million.

Within that is around £300 million of direct payments to farmers. The Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU) has calculated that maintaining the real value of the funding — the "real terms" referred to in our amendment — will require the overall funding to be increased to £389 million by the end of 2024. Without that increase, there will be a shortfall of around £60 million this year, a real-terms cut in the available funding that has been experienced each year since 2020. Meanwhile, while the financial support has been cut and is reducing, farmers are under increasing pressure. It is expected that the figures will show a drop in total farm income from £609 million in 2022 to £341 million in 2023. Therefore, it is not enough to maintain direct payments at the pre-Brexit levels. The funding must be inflation-proofed in real terms, as our amendment states, and guaranteed for at least 10 years, as the UFU has called for. That would restore the certainty that accompanied the EU funding. It must also include replacement funding for the pillar 2 payments. As I said earlier, many from rural areas know that they are crucial for rural development, small businesses, microbusinesses and community groups in general. The funding was lost after Brexit, and replacing the lost investment for rural development is essential if the Executive hope to deliver, in total, for our rural communities. It is right that the argument is being led by our Minister of Agriculture, but it is also a message that the joint First Ministers must take to London. Sin é. Tá mé an-sásta an leasú a chur in bhur láthair. Thank you, a Phríomh-Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

673 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:23 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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