Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »
HEAD TO HEAD: Jack Thurstonsays it's only if the payments are open that we can know whether the public is getting good value and if the payments are ending up with the farmers they were designed to assist, while Michael Ringargues Disclosure is a step too far. Farmers' right to privacy is being breached and they are being set up for roaming gangs of thugs and robbers, he writes.
YES:WHEN POLITICIANS argue for secrecy, it is natural to assume there is something to hide. Fortunately, the opponents of transparency are trying to close the door after the horse has bolted. Under new rules agreed by all EU countries, citizens now have a legal right to know how the EU spends €120 billion of public money each year. At €55 billion a year, farm subsidies represent the lion's share but the new transparency rules apply across the board: fisheries subsidies, roads, bridges and tunnels, development aid and all the rest. And they should be welcomed.
