Visit to Tullamore Mart for Offaly leg of McConalogue's CAP consultation tour

A strong debate took place in Tullamore Mart this week as Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue continued his nationwide CAP consultation tour in the Offaly county town.

Addressing a COVID-19 compliant crowd, the Minister spelled out his current vision for the next CAP which is currently being worked on. Ireland's CAP Strategic Plan must be submitted before January 1, 2022 in order to have the new CAP in place for January 2023.

The Minister plans to visit every county to meet with farmers and hear directly from farmers as part of the CAP consultation process over the coming weeks. He said he was delighted to meet farmers in Offaly to listen to their ideas around the next CAP.

“It was a great honour to visit farmers in Tullamore. I was enthused by the suggestions that were coming forward from those in attendance. While time is short, farmers can still have an input into this CAP Strategic Plan. This is very much their CAP and I want ensure that as many farm families as possible have the opportunity to feed into this CAP plan.

“I committed to bringing this CAP to every milking parlour, every calving shed, every tillage field and every kitchen table in the county and I am doing that. I also thank Minister of State Senator Pippa Hackett, the staff and board of Tullamore Mart and everyone who assisted in making the evening such a success,” the Minister said.

Commenting on the Glenisk tragedy, the Minister added: “I express my utmost respect and admiration for Vincent and the rest of the team in Glenisk for the way they have reacted to the devastating fire on their world-class facility.

"They will rebuild and are keen to get the Glenisk brand on the shelves as quickly as possible. However, the road will be long“.