Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 31 March 2021
1271. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on implementing internal convergence of payment entitlements during the CAP transitional regulation covering the years 2021 and 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16923/21]
View answerConvergence is a feature of the current CAP and the new CAP proposals intend to continue with this policy. Ireland has supported this element of these proposals. Convergence aims to redistribute and flatten the value of CAP payment entitlements and like all elements of the CAP, there are differing views regarding its implementation.
Under the current CAP, some €93million was redistributed from farmers with payment entitlements values above the national average to raise the value of payment entitlement held by farmers that were below the national average. This was implemented in a planned, phased manner over the five years of the Basic Payment Scheme and the steps of this convergence were notified to each farmer. This period of planned convergence ended in 2019 following its successful implementation.
The regulation regarding the transition period enables member states to continue convergence during the transition period, if they so wish. In order to provide for stability, some certainty for farmers and consultation on CAP measures, Ireland chose to rest convergence during the years 2020 to 2022.
We are now in the transition period between the old CAP ending and the new CAP commencing in 2023. Following my appointment as Minister, I examined with Department officials the possibility of continuing convergence in 2021. However, given the enormous logistical and operational requirements in the process, the timeframe was not available to consider making changes for 2021.
It is my intention to consult with farm organisations for the second transition year of 2022 as well as for the CAP programme to further consider how to continue the convergence process. This engagement will take place over the coming months in order to make a timely decision for the 2022 period and beyond.
