All aboard the Cap bus

An Agriculture Council meeting taking place in Luxembourg today and tomorrow has been billed as a make-or-break summit, with Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney warning that if Cap reform isn't agreed between the Parliament and member states, it could be delayed for years.

Ireland, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, is determined to conclude negotiations over reforming the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy by the time its presidency terminates next weekend. It is believed the incoming Lithuanian presidency, which assumes the EU throne on July 1st, would find it difficult to conclude these mammoth talks with its limited resources.

The talks so far have shown that there is wide support for the Commission's main concepts, such as the 30 per cent "greening" of direct payments and a fairer distribution of the Cap support both between and within member states. Nevertheless, there remain a number of difficult issues to be resolved. There is still disagreement over how much land would have to be set aside and whether farms could receive weighted bonus points for such measures as planting trees.

IT seminar
Datapac will host a free seminar in Wexford tomorrow to demonstrate some of the latest technologies and services that will enable businesses to be fully prepared for next generation IT.

The aim of the seminar is to help remove many of the perceived complexities which exist around the implementation of next generation technologies, according to Datapac general manager Karen O’Connor.

"While many larger organisations are taking advantage of the latest technical solutions such as unified communications, mobile working and cloud services, smaller and medium-sized businesses can also easily leverage cloud technology to increase flexibility and competitiveness."

Seedcorn deadline
Friday is the final deadline for entries to the €280,000 Seedcorn investor readiness competition run by InterTradeIreland.

The competition, which is open to all independent companies incorporated in Ireland and Northern Ireland in the seed, start-up or early stages of business, offers a share of a €280,000 cash prize, with no equity stake taken in the winning company.

Ireland is punching above its weight with the number of companies that raise investment and it’s vital that we continue to foster this, Seedcorn project manager for InterTradeIreland Connor Sweeney said.