Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 March 2023
1568. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the timeline of payments to farmers across all agri-schemes under the remit of his Department for 2023; if these payments will be made in the same timeframe as in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13391/23]
View answer1569. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when payments of the areas of natural constraints scheme will be made to applicants in 2023; if these payments will be made in the same timeframe as in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13392/23]
View answer1570. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when payments of the basic income support for sustainability will be made to applicants in 2023; if these payments will be made in the same timeframe as its predecessor the basic payment scheme in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13393/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1568, 1569 and 1570 together.
I know how crucial all payments are to our farm families and I am committed to delivering all payments associated with my Department as quickly as possible.
The new CAP 2023 -2027 came into force this year and payments will commence in the final quarter of the year across a very broad range of schemes.
With this being the first year of the new CAP Strategic Plan, a whole range of new schemes are being introduced along with substantial changes to existing schemes over a relatively short time period.
I am fully committed to making payments to farmers under the various schemes at the earliest date possible and to the maximum number of farmers possible. My commitment to farmers is evidenced in the very high payment rates achieved across all schemes over the last number of years in both EU and Exchequer funded schemes.
Almost €1.8bn will be paid to farmers across the country during this period. At EU level, Ireland ranks amongst the most efficient Member States in getting payments to farmers expediently and in line with the legal requirements of relevant attendant EU Regulation.
The new CAP represents a significant evolution of the policy compared to previous iterations. It needs to be clearly understood by all stakeholders that the new CAP introduced a whole new delivery model and established several new schemes. In 2023, the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) is replaced by the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS).
While payment will still be paid based on Payment Entitlements, there are substantial changes to the BISS compared to the BPS, including very positive changes to land eligibility and a new active farmer check.
The land eligibility rules have changes from the previous CAP, to allow scheme payments on greater areas of scrub and other areas deemed beneficial for the climate and environment. The active farmer check is being introduced to ensure the person receiving the scheme payments is the person farming the land. These are all important changes, which will benefit farmers. An advance payment for BISS is expected to be paid on 24 October 2023, in line with the mid-October payment date in previous years.
The other schemes connected to the BISS include:
- The Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS), which is a completely new scheme in 2023. It is commonly known as front-loading. An advance payment for the new CRISS is expected to be paid on 24 October 2023, along with the BISS payment.
- The new Eco Scheme, which replaces many elements of the old Greening Scheme but is essentially a new annual agri-environment scheme starting in 2023. It is designed with a menu of actions so as to make it attractive to as many farmers as possible. An advance payment for the new Eco-scheme is expected to be paid on 31 October 2023.
- Balancing payments for BISS, CRISS and the Eco scheme are expected to issue in December 2023, the same timeline as previous years.
- The Complementary Income Support for Young Farmers (CIS-YF), which replaces the Young Farmer Scheme in 2023. The CIS-YF payment is expected to be paid in December, the same timeline as previous years.
- The Protein Aid Scheme, which is an existing scheme and is largely unchanged in 2023. The Protein Aid Scheme payment is expected to be paid in December, the same timeline as previous years.
- The Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC), which is an existing scheme but with significant changes to the stocking rate requirement in 2023. The ANC scheme payment is expected to be paid on 17 October, instead of the previous September payment date.
- The Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM), which was a pilot scheme in 2021 & 2022 and is largely unchanged in 2023. The SIM scheme payment is expected to be paid in December, the same timeline as previous years.
- The annual claims for new Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) and the expanded Organic Farming Scheme (OFS) are also made through the BISS application. The ACRES and OFS payments are expected to be paid in November 2023. I was delighted to announce at the end of February, that all valid applications from the 46,000 applications submit would be accepted into the Scheme in 2023.
In addition, the mechanisms used by my Department to check the scheme requirements for many of the schemes are also changing in 2023, especially with the mandatory introduction of the Area Monitoring System as required under EU regulations. The Area Monitoring System has many significant benefits for Irish farmers including a reduction in the number of on-farm physical inspections and the introduction of warning alerts to farmers so as to minimise the occurrence of non-compliances, allowing farmers to correct mistakes and giving farmers and advisors more time to respond to queries with no impact on their payment. I am also mindful of the substantial workload of advisors in 2023, including the ACRES scorecards, over the summer months
It should also be noted that the closing date for the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) and other area-based schemes applications (including the Areas of Natural Constraints Scheme) is Monday 29 May 2023, two weeks later than previous years and thereby providing farmers and advisors more time to understand the new scheme requirements and to submit their applications before the closing date.
The timelines for all schemes, including the planned payment dates, have been set taking account of the impact of introducing a whole suite of new schemes, new applications systems, new monitoring systems, new validation and processing systems and new payment systems. These changes were brought about as a result of the move from the out-going CAP to the new CAP Strategic Plan. The implementation of the range of new schemes and the substantial changes to existing schemes is a big challenge for my Department, for farmers and for Advisors. The scheme implementation timelines, including closing dates and payments dates, is an ambitious timeline, and it will require intensive and focused effort from all concerned to ensure that payments can be made in the October - December period.
I remain fully committed to making the maximum number of payments at the earliest date possible, and in the context of the changes as advised above, everybody needs to be realistic about what can be achieved and when. My Department is currently in talks with the Farm Bodies with a view to agreeing a new Farmers' Charter which includes, amongst other issues, setting realistic and achievable payment targets. Two meetings have been held to date and the next meeting is scheduled for early April for further discussions.
