Sir, - Con Lucey's defence of Irish farming interests ("Ireland faces crunch time on CAP reform", Opinion, February 9th) is like the Irish rugby team's performance against France - strongly focused but inherently flawed.
CAP reform is urgent because of of subsidy-generated surpluses, which then have to be further subsidised so they can be dumped on the world market. Commissioner Fischler and EU consumers cannot afford not to reduce these surpluses.
And this time the IFA's "subsidy shopping" approach will not deflect Mr Fischler. Instead, we should be ensuring that the inevitable reduction in EU beef output occurs elsewhere in the EU and not in Ireland.
How to do this? As Con Lucey explains, the clash is between extensively grown Irish beef and intensively-produced Continental beef. Following the BSE scare, the merits of naturally produced, grass-fed beef over that from animals fed on concentrates of often very dubious origin are now well understood by consumers throughout the EU.
There is surely, therefore, a market for Irish beef and dairy products, produced by the more extensive natural grass-based method - perhaps even at a modest premium if the marketing is done right! Almost 20 per cent of Danish liquid milk production is now organic - a clear indicator of the consumer forces now driving the Continental dairy sector.
The IFA should not once again strive to contort subsidy structures to wring more grants from Brussels. It's time now for agricultural supports to be based on sensible consumer trends. This would also be to Ireland's commercial advantage, thereby ensuring further long-term prosperity for our most vital national industry.
And then too, the obscene dumping of our unwanted surpluses, irrespective of the devastating impact upon the lives - and often the deaths - of much poorer farmers and their families in developing countries, could also stop. - Yours, etc., Dr Brian Scott,
Executive Director, Oxfam Ireland, Clanwilliam Terrace, Dublin 2.