Fine Gael TD for Limerick Patrick O’Donovan has welcomed the announcement by Government of a €12.5billion package up to 2020 for the Agriculture Sector, which he said will have a huge impact on the Co. Limerick economy.
The Co. Limerick TD specifically welcomed the announcement from Minister Simon Coveney that €1.9billion is being provided by the Irish Government together with €2.2billion from the EU for spending under the Rural Development Program which he said will provide a stimulus for the creation of further employment in rural areas.
Patrick O’Donovan said that the announcement includes initiatives aimed at helping to meet targets laid out in Food harvest 2020 would be particularly welcomed in Co. Limerick. These included a new agri environmental scheme, GLAS to compliment the work already done under REPS and AEOS, support for disadvantaged areas to continue, on-farm capital investment scheme, a new scheme to improve the quality of the Irish Beef sector and a new set of measures to support young farmers.
Deputy O’Donovan said that the package was particularly important given the fact that milk quotas will be abolished in 2015. “The Department knows that on-farm investment is required to ensure that we can reach our full production potential when quotas go, so the decision to provide a capital scheme will make a big difference in the local economy where local contractors will be able to benefit from these funds.”
Patrick O’Donovan said that he believed that the package that had been announced by the Taoiseach and the Minister for Agriculture could not be over-emphasised. “It is clear that in many of our large urban centres that the local economy is beginning to improve, this announcement is the stimulus that our rural economy needed and it will I believe lead to the protection of existing jobs, and the creation of many new ones in counties like Limerick which rely heavily on agriculture. This announcement will give certainty and a plan for the development of the sector into the future and I believe it will make a major difference in our community.”
It is expected that further negotiations on how the €1.9billion will be spent will take place in the coming weeks before it is submitted to the European Commission for approval.