Over 70,000 farmers will benefit from full flattening of CAP Pillar 1 payments, the INHFA has claimed.

INHFA president Colm O’Donnell said 72,700 farmers would receive increased CAP payments as a result of full convergence and this represented around 60pc of all farmers.

Mr O’Donnell rejected the contention that full convergence to the national average of €265/ha would be damaging to productive agriculture and maintained that the European Parliament was “more in touch with the needs of Irish farmers than many of the public and farming representatives here”.

The INHFA accepted front-loading payments through the Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS) may be required to protect supports to small holders, but it insisted that such a move must form part of an overall shift to greater flattening of Pillar 1 entitlements.

“The INHFA is supporting this [front loading] as it will benefit small holders and potentially increase the payments for farmers on the first 10-20ha to over €300/ha,” Mr O’Donnell said.

The INHFA leader also challenged the assertion that moving payments from intensive farmlands to more extensive ground was in effect shifting supports out of agriculture.

Mr O’Donnell said financial benefit to the Irish economy delivered by lands designated special areas of conservation (SAC) and special protected areas (SPA) have been ignored for too long. He insisted that a greater appreciation of the public goods delivered by Natura lands was in keeping with the increased environmental thrust and emphasis of CAP.

“It is vital that the delivery of public goods in terms of improved water and air quality, improved biodiversity and climate change mitigation is remunerated in the upcoming CAP,” Mr O’Donnell said.

“The EU’s Nature Fitness Check has established how our designated lands are delivering between €2bn-€3bn each year to our economy, which translates into almost €3,000/ha. In the new CAP, we must ensure this output is recognised in the same way that farming output is.”