WATCH: Government remains committed to backing farmers in the Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition 2 areas

The Government remains committed to backing farmers in the Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition 2 areas (GAEC).

Speaking in the Dáil last night, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue referred to "unsubstantiated claims, which had been made that farmers on these lands would be disadvantaged in the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Minister McConalogue has moved to "dispel these claims, once and for all".

He spoke following a Private Members Motion brought by the Rural Independents regarding the negotiations around the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Minister McConalogue said: "I was privileged to farm upland, lowland and carbon-rich GAEC2 soils and I will unashamedly back these farmers.

"The position of the Council of Ministers will deliver the most security for these farmers along the Western seaboard", he concluded.