€10bn agri support plan on way
THE CABINET is expected to sign off on an agricultural support plan worth close to €10billion today.
Ministers are expected to agree on the new €9.8billion Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which is being brought forward by Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue, and will start next year and run to 2027.
Under the plan, farmers who qualify for the agri-environmental scheme called ACRES will receive up to €10,500 each per year. The €1.5billion ACRES scheme will replace the current Glas scheme, where a maximum annual payment of €5,000 is available to farmers.
The plan will include specific measures to support female farmers, including higher grant rates for on-farm investments specifically for women and a new European Innovation Partnership Fund – the details of which are yet to be finalised – to encourage women to get into the industry. Also included in the new CAP are increased payments for organic farmers, along with tillage and suckler farmers.
The CAP is made up of funding from the European Union while support payments are funded jointly through money from the Exchequer and the EU.
The Agriculture Minister described the new CAP as the ‘most ambitious ever’.
‘The next CAP is well-funded and farmerfriendly,’ said Mr McConalogue.
He added that it is ‘aimed at supporting farm incomes while also ensuring that farm families continue to play their key role in food production and protecting the environment’.
In last week’s Budget, the Fianna Fáil minister secured funding for 30,000 places in the upcoming ACRES scheme for 2023.
In Budget 2023, over €2billion was allocated to Mr McConalogue’s department – an increase of €250million compared to the previous year.
It comes as the Government’s CAP strategic plan faced criticism from farmer representatives in recent weeks. Tim Cullinan, president of the Irish Farmers’ Association, claimed that measures for schemes in the CAP including for suckler cows, sheep and the environment were ‘under-funded’. Mr Cullinan further warned that some measures outlined in the plan could affect food production, and he also criticised the ACRES scheme.
‘The new much-trumpeted environmental scheme ACRES is a bureaucratic monster and needs changes to ensure it is workable for farmers,’ Mr Cullinan said.
He made the comments after the European Commission officially approved Ireland’s plan to implement the CAP back in August. The approval came weeks after the Government submitted a revised plan to Europe.
The first draft of the implementation plan was rejected by the European Commission earlier this year amid concerns over how Ireland’s dependence on fossil fuels could affect food security in the wake of the war in Ukraine.