Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 October 2023
57. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will examine the possibility of utilising Brexit adjustment reserve funding to support farmers before the end of 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46771/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraI ask the Minister about the Brexit adjust reserve, BAR, fund. There is approximately €150 million remaining in it. The Minister might be able to confirm that figure in his response. Given the importance of the fund and the many crises that farmers are facing across the board, does the Minister intend to spend any more of the money in the fund before returning it to Europe at the end of the year?
I thank the Deputy for her question. With the indulgence of the House, I note at the outset that we do not have any questions at the top of the ranking on the list in respect of payments. That is a reflection of the hard work that the payments section has done in recent times to work through the new Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, and to pay out significant payments. Some 90% of the applicants for the new basic payment or basic income supplement scheme are being paid this week. I say that in the context that today is the last day in the Department for the assistant secretary in charge of the payments section, Mr. Paul Dillon. He has been a civil servant for 43 years and has given great service in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and other Departments throughout his career. He is a rock of sense, practicality and pragmatism. He works very hard and is a representation of what is great about our Civil Service. I wish him well on his final day. I know the House will join me in that sentiment. I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach and Deputy Kerrane for their indulgence.
On the Deputy's question, my Department has worked on a continuous basis to access BAR funding. As a result of that approach, my Department has been the most successful across the Government in securing funds from what was a very restrictive set of eligibility conditions.
The BAR fund is under the remit of my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery, and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, and his Department. My officials and I engage closely with that Department in analysing and assessing potential measures eligible to be funded from BAR to support of the agrifood sector. The fund was put in place by the EU to provide financial support to the most affected member states to counter the adverse impacts of Brexit. We have drawn down significant funding, particularly for fisheries, but also this year for the beef welfare scheme and the new genomics scheme, which deals with the genomic testing and sequencing of our national herd.
We have at all times been open to suggestions and have explored suggestions in respect of the BAR. It has been our objective to draw down funding in every way we could find that was eligible.
I thank the Minister. I share his good wishes for Mr. Dillon. After a very long career, I wish him the very best for a long, happy and healthy retirement.
Perhaps the Minister could confirm in his supplementary response the amount of money that is left in the BAR fund. Does he intend to spend anything further on agriculture for farmers? I met representatives of the Irish Grain Growers yesterday, as did the Minister. He will know they are looking for a package of approximately €2 million for unharvested crops. As tillage farmers, they have seen a once-in-a-generation wipeout at a time when we need to be promoting tillage and when we have targets to meet for growing tillage. Their request is for €2 million from what I understand is a €150 million fund. Is there any way that money can be spent? I know and understand there is a Brexit element to this, which is obvious. However, Bord Bia got €1.5 million to promote organics. I am not sure what the Brexit link is in that regard. The same applies to sheep farmers, which is an issue I have raised many times. I have asked the farm organisations to come to the Minister with proposals on behalf of sheep farmers. With the deal done between New Zealand and the UK, and with the level of the exchange rate, those sheep farmers have been impacted. I ask the Minister to consider both of those sectors in the context of this fund.
I thank the Deputy. We have received proposals from different representative organisations and have been very keen to encourage people to bring proposals to us in recent years. Each proposal we have received has been assessed, and we have worked to make such proposals eligible for the BAR scheme in any way we can. It has been my objective to do everything possible to draw down BAR funding for the agriculture and fisheries sectors. The fisheries sector was significantly impacted by Brexit in that we had a direct loss to quota at the outset. I have now implemented more than 12 schemes that the task force recommended to me. I have implemented each and every one of them. However, the fisheries sector clearly met the criteria, which was helpful. It is more tricky on the agricultural side because exports have increased since Brexit. In those years, prices have held up strongly, and, in fact, improved over much of that time, although it will be more challenging this year given the market conditions.
I am very much conscious of what the future challenges might be. That is a matter which I will continue to monitor closely. In each and every way we could find to draw down BAR funding, we did so.
Again, I make the point that sending about €150 million back to Europe to a REPowerEU fund is really unforgivable in light of the challenges that farmers are facing. The Minister will have heard yesterday from the Irish Grain Growers of a once-in-a-generation wipeout for a lot of farmers in a sector that we want and need to grow and for which we have targets to meet. I understand that the deal has already been done as regards sending this money back to the EU at the end of the year but will that €150 million be ring-fenced? Can we seek to have it ring-fenced for Ireland and for agriculture when it goes into that new fund? Again, I cannot understand how a link to Brexit has been made in promoting organics and in the context of sheep and lamb going to England and New Zealand but a link cannot be found for tillage, or at least an attempt made to find one. We should submit the application and if it is refused and does not work out, that is fine but we should at least try.
In relation to the tillage sector, which has had a very difficult year, I have delivered three tranches of funding: €7 million from the EU; €7 million in additional funding this year through the straw incorporation scheme; and €7 million in the budget for next year. If there were ways of drawing down BAR funding for the sector I would do so but we are talking here about a particular weather event rather than a Brexit event.
I have been working to make sure that I could pull down every bit of funding possible. We are by far the largest spender in relation to the BAR fund and if there is any other way of spending more, I am keen to explore that. The Government is working to make sure that all of the Brexit funding at national level gets spent on work in the country. In terms of engaging on the REPowerEU scheme, there is a mechanism to make sure we can avail of that funding going forward. The deadline for expenditure within the BAR is the end of this year but we will try to make sure that it continues to be available to the country in another format as we go forward.
