The Irish Farmers' Association - IFA

Lobbying Organisation The Irish Farmers' Association - IFA

Date published 20 May, 2016

Relevant Matter Public policy or programme

Public Policy Area Agriculture

Period 1 Jan, 2016 to 30 Apr, 2016

Specific Details Programme for Government 2016

Intended results Full defence of the CAP budget and strengthening of EU supports in future negotiations Funding support for Rural Development Programme and Farm Schemes. Full drawdown of €80m pa under the RDP. Strong defence of Ireland's interests in any trade negotiations including TTIP and Mercosur and strict equivalence of standards Government must tackle input costs across the board and particularily through more competitive fertiliser costs and access to fiance at the lower interest rates available in other Eurozone contries. Taxation: self-employed earned income tax credit to come into line with PAYE tax credit of €1,650 no later than budget 2017 New taxation measures to help farmers cope with income volatility including adjustments to EU state aid rules Further measures to promote early farm transfer and assist restructuring A full dedicated Minister for farming, agri-food and marine sector Ministerial engagement and leadership of both the Dairy and Beef Forums Stronger retail legislation to provide for an Independent Ombudsman and a ban on below cost selling Protection of the viability of family farm businesses and avoidance of excessive care costs under the Fair Deal Scheme through a maximum percentage charge on productive farm assets Improved rural infrastructure and services including affordable high quality fibre rural broadband network, increased and measurable rural policing hours, increased and ring-fenced annual rural roads budget and the doubling in size of the Rural Walks Scheme Climate Change - recognoition of Ireland's sustainable model of food production in the EU's implementation of the COP21 agreement in Paris, so that our scope for sustainable expansion is not undermined and Ireland's stance at the EU Heads of Government meeting in October 2014 is upheld

Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity Jer Bergin IFA National Chairman

Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?) No

Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign? No

Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client? No

Lobbying activity

The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.

Letter (2-5)

Email (6-10)

Phone call (21-30)

Meeting (1)

Designated public officials lobbied

The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them. As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.

Enda Kenny Taoiseach (Department of the Taoiseach)

Mark Kennelly Chief of Staff (Department of the Taoiseach)

Martin Heydon TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Andrew Doyle TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Micheál Martin TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Michael McGrath TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Charlie McConalogue TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Barry Cowen TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Jim O'Callaghan TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Denis Naughten TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)