Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 February 2024
84. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is satisfied with the distribution of CAP direct payments, whereby the top eight recipients received more than €200,000 each, compared with an average payment of less than €9,657; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8355/24]
View answerCAP payments are a critical source of income for the many family farms that we have in Ireland. The CAP Strategic Plan, which was launched in 2023, will underpin the sustainable development of our agricultural sector by:
(i) supporting viable farm incomes and enhancing competitiveness,
(ii) contributing to the achievement of environmental and climate objectives at national and EU levels,and
(iii) strengthening the socio-economic fabric of rural areas.
This is being achieved with a range of schemes that are designed to ensure payments are made in an equitable manner to farmers in Ireland.
Under the CAP and in accordance with EU Regulation 1306/2013, the Department was obliged to ensure annual ex-post publication of all of the beneficiaries of CAP funding, both legal and non-legal persons.
For the most recent period that data is required to be published (16-Oct-2021 to 15-Oct-2022) a total of 121,742 payments totalling more than €1,175,980,000.00 was paid under Direct Payments and eight herds from within this group received in excess of €200,000.
In the new CAP a number of measures have been introduced to redistribute funding.
• Within the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) scheme, under convergence payment entitlement values will be brought to a national average value. This will see higher value entitlements decreasing and lower ones increase over the first four years of the Scheme (2023-2026).
• Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS) is designed to ensure redistribution of direct payments from larger holdings to medium and smaller sized holdings.
• Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan provides for capping of payments to farmers in line with Regulation (EU) 2021/2115. Capping will apply in two tranches to a farmer’s BISS payment. The BISS payment above €100,000 is fully reduced, and the BISS payment €60,000-€100,000 is reduced by 85% resulting in an effective maximum BISS payment of €66,000.
These measures will ensure the CAP continues to support Irish family farms.
