ICSA Rural Development chair Edmond Phelan has said recent comments by former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are deeply misguided and risk creating a false and damaging divide between urban and rural Ireland. "Framing rural Ireland as somehow dependent on urban taxpayers is both misleading and unhelpful. It ignores the reality that our economy is interconnected, with each sector relying on the other," he said.

 Continuing, Mr Phelan said, "While farmers do receive CAP supports, these reflect the realities of food production in a highly competitive market where farmers have little influence over the prices they receive, while production costs continue to rise. These payments help sustain viable food production in a highly regulated system and support farm incomes that would otherwise not be sustainable. In sectors such as beef, suckler, and sheep farming, incomes remain persistently low despite these supports."

 He said the agri-food sector continues to make a significant contribution to the Irish economy through exports and employment. "Agriculture is one of the country's largest indigenous sectors, with agri-food exports now worth over €20 billion annually. Its impact goes far beyond the farm gate, and the idea that one part of the country is 'paying for' another does not reflect how the economy actually works," he said.

 Concluding, Mr Phelan said, "The focus must be on ensuring farmers are properly supported to meet the expectations being placed on them. Farmers are being asked to take on additional costs and responsibilities, often without any clear pathway to make that pay. Attempts to portray rural Ireland as a burden on the rest of the country are wrong, divisive, and show a complete lack of understanding of how the Irish economy actually works."