Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 March 2018
748. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the position Ireland took at the recent EU Agriculture Ministers meeting regarding voluntary coupled support; and his views on such support for vulnerable sectors in disadvantaged regions, as pertains in other member states. [12751/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the current CAP programme, Ireland's Pillar 1 envelope is approximately €1.2 billion annually, almost all of which are decoupled payments. Ireland has only one small voluntary coupled scheme (VCS) which is the Protein Aid scheme with the annual expenditure accounting for 0.25% of our total Direct Payments or approximately €3 million per annum. I believe that coupled supports have a role to play in supporting vulnerable sectors, however, I do not consider it optimal to divert significant sums of Pillar 1 monies into coupled support schemes.
I believe that efforts should instead focus on ensuring the market delivers a satisfactory return for the end product produced by the farmer. At the recent Council of Minister's meeting I indicated that I could support a system that permitted member states to introduce limited coupled supports on a voluntary basis, to address a decline in a particular sector and/or to help solve or mitigate environmental problems such as under grazing or potential land abandonment.
As regards support for vulnerable sectors in disadvantaged land regions, the Programme for Government included a commitment to provide an additional €25 million for the Areas of National Constraint (ANC) Scheme in 2018. I am pleased to confirm that this commitment was delivered in Budget 2018 and that, subject to the EU Commission’s approval of an amendment to Ireland’s Rural Development Programme, this new funding will be available for payment under the 2018 ANC Scheme.
In addition, I am extremely conscious of the need for money to be targeted at those farmers on lands with higher levels of constraint. In that context, and having considered the views of stakeholders, I have decided to allocate €22 million (or 88%) of this additional monies to farmers in the 'mountain type land' and 'more severely handicapped land' categories. The balance will be allocated to farmers in the 'less severely handicapped' land category. The higher allocations for land in more disadvantaged areas is a reflection of the greater constraints on farmers who are farming this type of land.
