The UE Commission has proposed a €2.5 billion cut to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget for Irish farmers between 2028 and 2034

The agriculture sector is unfairly “pilloried” when it fails to meet “unrealistic” targets set by Government, according to the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA).

Francie Gorman said that the industry’s achievement of just 4.7pc of a 10pc emissions target set by Government in 2025 is viewed under a different lense than other industries, who regularly do not meet set targets.

Mr Gorman was speaking to RTÉ Radio 1’s Morning Ireland programme at the National Ploughing Championships in Co Offaly this morning where addressed the European Commission’s proposed €2.5bn cut to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) budget for Irish farmers.

“There’s a real responsibility on our government to particularly make sure that the proposals put forward by President von der Leyen earlier on in the year, that they’re put on the table, and to try and make sure that when member states sit down […] that we end up with a budget that looks after agriculture,” he said.

Mr Gorman urged Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon, and the rest of Government to use its EU Presidency to be proactive in the area of food security, insisting “no deal is better than a bad deal”.

The EU is proposing a ring-fenced CAP budget of €300bn for the bloc’s farmers for 2028 to 2034. Mr Gorman believes member states should push for an increase.

“The European Union has been positive overall for the whole continent, and if the governments in the European Union believe that, they should put their hands in their pockets and support financially the project, otherwise it’s going to die in the vine,” he said.

“You’re talking there about €500bn being more appropriate.”

He addressed the agriculture sector’s low score in its climate change reduction efforts for last year in which it lowered emissions by 4.7pc, far below the figure of 10pc set by Government.

“As a sector, we’re probably going to go further to achieving our targets than any other sector,” Mr Gorman said.

“Some of those targets were set, they were unrealistic, and then despite all the efforts that people make, when they maybe go halfway there, you don’t get credit for going halfway there. You get pilloried for not going the whole way.”

He added: “If you go back to the Paris Accord in 2015, they did say that food production and food security should not be sacrificed at the altar of reducing our emissions.”

Minister Heydon, also speaking to Morning Ireland, said Ireland’s CAP budget from next year is “not adequate” and would be a “devastating blow” to Irish agriculture.

“We have to strike a balance in designing the new scheme to make sure that we give sufficient flexibility to recognise that in Ireland we farm differently than Slovenia or Slovakia,” he said.

He acknowledged that some EU countries are looking to lower the CAP budget for member states to allow for raised funds in the defence sector, particularly those in the east.

“It shouldn’t be defence against food and CAP funding. Hunger is the greatest cause of conflict in the world, he said.