My Department provides Teagasc with an annual block Grant in Aid subvention to support its activities in providing research, training and advisory services to the agriculture and food sectors. The indicative allocation for 2020 is €136.7m. In addition to exchequer Grant Aid, Teagasc earns approximately €50m per annum in own resource income from fees earned from the provision of research, advisory and training services, income from national and EU research programmes and revenue from farming activities etc.
The percentage of the Teagasc research budget allocated to climate mitigation activities is an operational matter for Teagasc and its governing Authority. Accordingly, I have requested Teagasc to provide the information directly to the Deputy within 10 working days.
My Department continues to submit significant research resources towards climate change mitigation research, both in terms of research carried out under grant in aid and under the Department’s Research Stimulus Fund. Since 2013, funding awards of approximately €20m have been made to projects related to climate change.
Both European and national exchequer supports underpin a vibrant agri-food sector. The majority of my Department’s financial support schemes have some environmental benefits embedded within them. I will shortly be launching a Climate Action roadmap for the agri-food sector. This roadmap will set out the measures the sector needs to take in order to achieve the emissions reduction targets as set out in the All-of-Government Climate Action Plan. The measures set out in the Teagasc Management Abatement Cost Curve (MACC) will form the basis of our emission reductions. In addition, our next CAP strategic plan will focus strongly on environmental objectives, while continuing to support thousands of farm families in rural Ireland.