Ireland feels cheated by the reforms, and rejects them outright. In a very direct speech, the Minister for Agriculture, Joe Walsh, set out his complaints clearly. Ireland considers the March 18th proposals "a disimprovement on those of last July".
Ireland loses out on the reduction in premiums on beef, and on the abolition of supplementary payments, milk quotas and extensification measures. At the same time, it fails to gain from the compensatory measures of direct aid to silage producers.
"It appears that Ireland slips through the net," said Mr Walsh, at a meeting of EU farm ministers in April, "and I would like to express our rejection of the reforms with all the emphasis I can command."
On June 25th, the council of Agriculture Ministers took decision on the prices packages for 1998/'99, on the current set-aside rate for 1999/2000 and on other matters.
The Minister was particularly pleased with the outcome in relation to beef, where Ministers agreed tom pay the Deseasonalisation Premium (DSP) in 1999. The rate of premium will be 60 per cent of the previous rate. The minister regards this as a very satisfactory outcome given that the Autumn throughput in Ireland had reduced to 31 per cent in 1997 from 50 per cent in 1992.
The Minister also welcomed the agreement on bananas, tobacco and live oil as representing a reasonable outcome, given the many conflicting interests involved.