Mr. Gordon Conroy:

I thank the committee for the invitation to provide an update on the activities in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on the BAR. I am joined by my colleagues, Mr. Damien Flynn, Ms Maria Dunne, Ms Rebecca Chapman and Ms Deirdre Fay. As the committee is aware, the BAR aims to provide substantial financial support to the most affected member states, regions and sectors to deal with the adverse consequences of the UK's withdrawal from the European Union.

The regulation came into force in October 2021 and requires that any application for funding must set out the negative impacts of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union and how the measures carried out under the fund would alleviate the adverse consequences. The total fund is €5.5 billion at EU level and Ireland received just over 20% of the entire reserve with an allocation €1.015 billion. This Department was allocated almost €300 million specifically for BAR funding through the budgetary processes in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Significant initial additional expenditure and staffing costs have been incurred separately, and will likely be included in the final claim for BAR which will be submitted next year.

The fund is managed by the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform as the designated body for BAR expenditure in Ireland. That Department issued a number of communication to Departments, including the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine outlining the eligibility criteria and requesting the submission of proposals that will meet these criteria.

Eligibility, as advised by the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, is determined as follows: proposers must identify a direct link to the negative impacts of Brexit and must also directly address the negative impact identified and the expenditure must meet genuine EU funding requirements, including state aid rules. The Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform also outlined that the BAR regulation sets out two concrete points in time in relation to eligibility and reporting.

As such, my colleagues and I will be referencing funding which has been spent with the intention of it being claimed from the BAR next year. However, whether or not it is ultimately included in Ireland's claim is a matter for the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform.

Regarding the identification and submission of funding proposals, the Department consulted extensively with all stakeholders to identify potential measures for inclusion under the BAR. In this regard, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, regularly requested agrifood stakeholders in direct engagement with them, including at the Brexit consultative committee, to submit proposals for BAR schemes. Alongside this, the Department's Brexit division consulted on an ongoing basis with divisions across the Department to highlight the availability of BAR funding and to explore possibilities for eligible schemes.

Policy divisions across the Department responsible for various sectors engaged with specific proposals made by sector stakeholders and measures which they identified from their analysis to address Brexit impacts on the various sectors. This included development of proposals which met BAR eligibility provisions, sanction requirements from the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform for funding, EU state aid approval requirements and the development of application and scheme delivery mechanisms for measures.

I will now outline some specific sector supports. In the beef sector, two BAR-funded schemes were introduced in 2023 to mitigate Brexit risks - the national beef welfare scheme, with a budget of €23 million, and the national dairy beef welfare scheme, with a budget of €5 million. In addition, the bovine genotyping programme, which will operate for five years and represents a significant step towards genotyping of the national herd, was introduced.

Given that approximately 80% of Irish mushrooms are exported to the UK, the mushroom sector was a particular focus for BAR funding. Support has been provided in two ways which we can elaborate on in our discussion. The potato sector was also directly impacted by Brexit measures. Here, steps were taken to support seed potato producers towards the capital cost of equipment and facilities for the production, storage and marketing of seed potatoes.

Regarding fisheries, the Minister established a seafood task force in March 2021 to examine the impact of the trade and co-operation agreement on our fishing sector and coastal communities and to recommend mitigation measures. The task force delivered its final report in October 2021 and made 16 recommendations. It recommended that these initiatives be funded through the 100% EU BAR and Ireland's forthcoming EU co-funded seafood development programme under the European maritime fisheries and agriculture fund.

There are a number of other measures which we can discuss later. In addition to the various financial supports already outlined, the Department also invested heavily in helping the sector prepare for the changes in the new trading environment with the UK. This included investment in IT systems, recruitment of additional veterinary and technical resources, significant investment in physical infrastructure and direct trading for businesses on new systems and processes. All of this investment has ensured that any disruption to Irish trade with the UK has been minimised. This has been a key priority of the Government in its approach to meeting the challenges associated with Brexit.

While the process for accepting and considering new proposals under the reserve has now finished, the work in preparing Ireland's claim is ongoing, with the final claim to be submitted in September 2024, with an extended period of audit checks to be completed thereafter. Officials from this Department will be engaging with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform to ensure the maximum utilisation of available funds. The Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform is the designated body for managing and deciding on the reserve in Ireland and it also co-ordinates Ireland's overall position so there may be some questions which we will refer back to that Department.

I thank the committee for its time. My colleagues and I will be happy to answer questions.