Speaking at Monday’s Agricultural and Fisheries Council meeting, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD, acknowledged the weather-related challenges facing farmers and called for flexibility in managing such events.

The Minister said: “Extreme weather events have become more frequent in the last number of years, adding to the ongoing cycle of difficulties being experienced in the agriculture sector.”

“I believe that a key requirement for the crisis management framework of the CAP is to remain as flexible as possible to provide for the most agile response. In previous discussions, it has become clear that additional requirements would only serve to restrict us, when a timely decision is the key priority.”

Minister McConalogue also noted that having the financial capacity to adapt is just as important as having the determination to build resilience into the agriculture sector: “When building resilience, we need to consider the economic status of farming enterprises to avoid widening the disparity between them and society at large.”