Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 July 2022
44. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has notified the European Commission of his intended proposal to disperse funds associated with the European Crisis Reserve; and if his notification made reference to the use of co-financing. [37911/22]
View answerI have moved to support the pig sector as farm families have had to had to deal with enormous pressures in recent months.
On 23rd March, the EU Commission announced the adoption of exceptional adjustment aid to producers in agricultural sectors which have been impacted by Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine. The aid provided for was granted as a measure supporting agricultural markets following the transfer of funds from the reserve for crisis in the agricultural sector.
The exceptional aid allocation to Ireland was €15.8 million in EU funding and there are detailed requirements and conditionality attached to this allocation set out in Commission Delegated Regulation 2022/467 of 23rd March 2022.
The Government approved my proposal to allocate €2.8 million of this EU funding to support the Irish horticulture sector, with the remainder of the funds dedicated to supporting the pig sector. The EU Commission was notified to this effect last month and on 13th June, I announced the opening of applications for the Pig Exceptional Payment Scheme 2 (PEPS2).
A total fund of €13 million is being made available for this voluntary scheme for pig farmers, to support the viability of this important sector. The scheme closed for applications on Monday 11th July and payments will be made as soon as possible
The PEP2 scheme is in addition to the Pig Exceptional Payment Scheme I announced in February, funded by the Exchequer and notified under the agriculture de minimis state aid provisions, to support commercial pig farmers. This scheme provided for a payment of up to €20,000 per farmer. All payments have now been processed under that scheme.
I meet with stakeholders on an ongoing basis to discuss the impact of the Ukraine crisis on Irish agriculture and supply chains. Since the invasion of Ukraine started, I have announced a number of measures, valued at €91 million, to assist the agri-food sector. These targeted measures, which include the €15.8 million in EU exceptional aid referenced above, will help Irish farmers at a time of escalating costs and build resilience against the expected impact of the situation in Ukraine.
