The next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) should simplify the "conditionality" process that farmers must comply with to receive EU support, according to the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association (ICMSA).

Farmers must meet statutory management requirements (SMRs), whether or not they receive EU support and also good agricultural and environmental conditions (GAECs) if they are receiving support under the CAP.

But the ICMSA believes that there "needs to be simplification applied to the conditionality" process in the CAP beyond 2027.

"It must deliver a balanced policy that secures viable farm incomes, supports generational renewal, and enables farmers to meet environmental obligations in a fair and practical way," members of the ICMSA told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine last week.

The ICMSA, led by its president, Denis Drennan, also told the committee that there needs to be "less on the spot inspections with a greater notice period for those inspections" as part of the next CAP.

The organisation highlighted to TDs and senators that Area Based Monitoring has reduced physical inspections and "is working well" and should continue in its current role.

"There should also be a fairer penalty system introduced providing farmers with an opportunity to remedy issues within a defined period without penalty and the particularly punitive two-year exclusion from the nitrates derogation needs to be reformed for minor infringements," the ICMSA outlined.

CAP

The organisation was keen to stress to members of the Oireachtas committee that in, its view, previous CAP "reforms" have resulted in supports being "undermined".

It believes that the family farm model in Ireland "has never been under such threat" and the uncertanity surrounding the next CAP is exacerbating that threat.

The ICMSA is calling for the next CAP to be formulated and funded to ensure that the current model of farming in Ireland "can be sustained and continues to produce quality food".

It is of the opinion that the European Commission’s proposals to cut the CAP budget shows "a complete lack of understanding of the challenges facing agriculture in the EU".

The chair of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Aindrias Moynihan, said the committee believes Ireland - which will hold the presidency of the EU in the second half of 2026 - can "play a key role in shaping CAP’s future direction within the EU Commission".