Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 November 2023
936. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to a barrier to participation in a group (details supplied); and if he would engage with Teagasc with the goal of expanding access to the group and extend the upcoming deadline. [48203/23]
View answerThe new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has brought a new approach to knowledge transfer (KT) – the new system is more targeted, with equal emphasis on CAP objectives and local needs.
An example of this is that each participant will have an annual one-to-one planning meeting with the KT Facilitator, using the farmer’s Basic Income Support for Sustainability scheme (BISS) application so that the knowledge transfer can be applied to the goals of that farm and crucially can be evaluated in future years.
This new KT Programme is far more tailored to the individual farm and targeted to local needs in accordance with the regulations.
The old KT Programme had sector specific groups – equine and poultry for example. These are not a feature of the new KT Programme, as there is now the dual emphasis on local needs and CAP objectives. However, specific sectoral issues can still be discussed through delivery of meetings by external expert speakers in the KT Programme, where this contributes to CAP objectives or local needs.
The KT Programme 2024-2026 is currently open for submission of Group applications until 10 November 2023 (extended from 31 October).
It is a basic requirement that the farmer must have submitted a BISS application in 2023, and agree to continue submitting one in each future year of the Programme. Herd Keepers cannot submit BISS applications and therefore do not meet the eligibility requirements of the Programme
For multi-herd partnerships, each herd can apply separately, and for joint ventures/single herd partnerships, one application is accepted.
