Fine Gael TD for Limerick Patrick O’Donovan has welcomed the announcement of the €4billion Rural Development Programme by Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney TD. Patrick O’Donovan said that the announcement of the programme is a badly needed injection into rural communities and he said not only would the Programme sustain existing jobs but would, together with the targets in Food Harvest 2020 create badly needed jobs in rural counties like Limerick.
Patrick O’Donovan said “The programme has a number of key parts that I believe will be welcomed by communities across Co. Limerick. These include: an allocation of €1.45billion for a new Agri-Environment Scheme called GLAS, a fund of €395million for capital investment on farms, €70miliion for locally led Agri-Environment Schemes, €44million for organic farming, €295million for a beef data programme and €112million for knowledge transfer and discussion groups. Separately the Rural Development programme contains €250million which will be administered by the Department of Environment under LEADER which will be targeted at rural employment, social inclusion and rural environmental issues.”
Patrick O’Donovan said that the announcement by Minister Coveney will be of huge importance in counties like Limerick which rely so heavily on agriculture. He said that the inclusion of a scheme for investment in equipment and buildings on farms would give a major boost to the local economy and will provide farmers with incentives to have their farms ready for the abolition of quotas in 2015. The Co. Limerick TD welcomed in particular the new Beef Data Scheme. He said that this was something which he had lobbied for and had discussed it on a number of occasions with representatives of Co. Limerick’s farming organisations. It will support the development of a national cattle breeding data base and further underlines the quality of Irish Beef both for Irish and international consumers.
“This announcement is very welcome and comes quickly after the publication of the Commission for Economic Developments in Rural Areas. It underlines this Government’s commitment, led by Fine Gael, to a world class agri-food sector which will drive the economic recovery in counties like Limerick. This will deliver real results in terms of jobs and incomes in parishes across Limerick and it will provide a clear pathway for the next generation of young farmers and agri-business people to develop their enterprises.”