Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 29 June 2022
222. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 355 of 20 May 2021; the amount of funding provided to Pillar 2 schemes from the Exchequer and the amount co-funded by the State, by scheme, in the years 2020 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34773/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Rural Development Programme (RDP) is co-funded by the EU’s European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), the European Union Recovery Instrument (EURI), and the National Exchequer.
From April 2021, with the introduction of the 10th amendment to the RDP, EU support from the EAFRD now amounts to €2.88 billion and from EURI, amounts to €189 million, bringing the total fund to €3.07bn. The EU funding contribution is supplemented by exchequer funding bringing the total available budget under the RDP to just over €5.6 billion.
Ireland has one of the highest execution rates of EAFRD funds at 81% drawn down to date.
The RDP has been designed to meet three overriding objectives of RDP funding, as set out in EU legislation:
- Enhancing the competitiveness of the agri-food sector
- Achieving more sustainable management of natural resources; and
- Ensuring more balanced development of rural areas and economies
The programme has been performing successfully with significant spending taking place on a range of important programmes which support Irish farmers, such as the GLAS programme and Areas of Natural Constraint (ANC) payments.
All schemes and pilots under the programme are fully operational with many running at optimum level; based on current projections, the programme is expected to drawdown all EU funding by the end of the programme in 2025.
Details requested are at the link.
