The main components of the €159,845,000 capital allocations for the Farm Sector Supports and Controls ( DAFM Programme B) for 2019 are set out in the following table.
Description
|
Allocation 2019
€
|
Forestry*
|
78,179,000 *
|
Targeted Agricultural Measures (TAMs)
|
69,493,280
|
Commercial Horticulture
|
6,000,000
|
Traditional Farm Buildings Capital
|
1,250,000
|
Information Management Technology ( Admin Budget)
|
1,236,000
|
Dev Organic Sect 2014-20
|
1,200,000
|
BEEP
|
1,150,000
|
* A further €22 million will be allocated from funds carried over from 2018 (subject to approval)
It can be seen that the vast majority of the funding is allocated to Forestry Programme schemes , including establishing new afforestation and the cost of annual premiums for existing forestry, and the Targeted Agricultural Measures (TAMS) which is co funded by the EU under the Rural Development Programme (RDP) 2014-2020. These schemes provide grant aid which part-fund many thousands of projects undertaken by individual operators. As they are demand led the precise number of individual projects, start dates etc. cannot be provided.
Furthermore, this allocation will provide assistance in the development of the Commercial Horticulture Sector by grant aiding capital investments in specialised buildings and equipment, as well as the provision of funding in the Organic Sector to support the development of the sector to respond to market demand for organically produced food. It also includes support for weighing equipment for the new Beef Environmental Efficiency Pilot (BEEP) scheme.
The Administrative budget capital allocation for Programme B in 2019 provides for ensuring that my Department continues to maintain a robust and responsive IT infrastructure to support of the delivery of farmer payments and controls and to assist my department in maintaining its certified ISO 27001 Information Security Standard.