Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 December 2014
8. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the steps he is taking to mitigate the projected drop in farm incomes in 2015 of 25% forecast by Teagasc; the amount of funding projected to be paid to farmers through his Department in direct payments next year through all schemes, including schemes under the rural development programme, RDP, compared to 2011 and 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48281/14]
View answerTeagasc has forecast a drop of 25% in farm incomes next year. As well as facing challenges with prices, farmers face the other challenge that the amounts paid in direct payments are consistently falling. Will the Minister outline the scale of the fall next year compared to 2011?
If one adds up all of the direct payments, there has been a fall for several years. Next year, however, there should not be. Between now and 2020, there will be an effective increase in payments because of a very strong rural development programme, with increased expenditure each year. When one looks at the amounts of direct supports going into farming, rather than the number of schemes and so forth, the totals have been falling from 2011 each year until this year. We have tried to limit it as best we can and ensure the moneys are well spent.
There has also been a reduction in the guts of €100 million in the cost of running the Department. Five years ago the number of departmental staff was 4,500; it is now fewer than 3,300. Across the board, we have reduced expenditure, applying it to the Department first, with some reductions in schemes.
We negotiated a new rural development programme in the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, which will see a significant increase in expenditure every year for the next six years. Next year is essentially about stopping further reductions and building from this. Accordingly, next year’s rural development programme spend will come to €439 million. I can send the Deputy the detailed figures for the different areas. It is anticipated that next year’s direct payment spend will be roughly the same as this year’s, €1.65 billion, counting the single farm payments, as well as the rural development programme spend. It should not be forgotten that we are spending heavily in areas such as forestry which does not involve any European funding. We have managed to prevent cuts to the forestry programme, maintaining it at between €110 million and €115 million.
Like every other sector that relies on Government budgets, there have been reductions in expenditure in the past six years. Farmers can now look ahead with much confidence that expenditure will be moving the other way in the next few years.
