A report that Ireland is changing its position on the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy has been denied by the Department of Agriculture and Food.
The Minister, Mr Walsh, was in Brussels yesterday for what was being seen as the last major push by the EU Agriculture Commissioner, Dr Franz Fischler, to push through his controversial agriculture reform package.
The negotiations on the plan, which has proposed a breaking of the link (decoupling) between production and farm supports and reductions in dairy supports, has met total opposition from France, Spain and Ireland.
Last night, however, the news agency Reuters reported a senior French diplomat as saying that "it looked like the Irish may be moving" from their position. This was emphatically denied by a spokesman for the Minister.
"Officially, the French haven't said anything yet to change their position, although it looks like the Irish may be moving," the report said. "Ireland, backed by Spain, has voiced concern over the effect of decoupling on its livestock sector, fearing that herds will shrink and damage rural areas both socially and economically."
A spokesman for the Minister said Mr Walsh was determined to protect Ireland's production base in the new situation because it would not be easy to replace the value of output lost in primary agriculture and processing if the reforms were put in place.
The spokesman said Mr Walsh was involved in discussions with the Greek presidency and Dr Fischler and had met the main Irish farming organisations yesterday.
Last week Mr Walsh said the dilemma facing the agriculture ministers was that the Commission's proposals on decoupling was also likely to result in improvements in farm incomes and in many cases farmers would opt out of uneconomic production.
He said he was also totally opposed to the progressive cuts in direct payments being proposed in the modulation and degression proposals.