Mr. Francis Morrin:

I thank the Cathaoirleach and members for their invitation to attend this committee meeting to give an update on some of the support schemes for farmers.

I begin with an update on what many farmers will know as the single farm payment, that is, payments under Pillar 1 of the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, which are fully EU funded. They include the basic income support for sustainability, BISS, scheme, which has a funding total of approximately €735 million each year and is paid to 120,000 farmers. The complementary income support for sustainability, CRISS, scheme, often called front loading, has a funding total of about €118 million and is also paid to 120,000 farmers. Some 98% of these farmers also benefit under the eco-scheme, with funding of €297 million annually. The complementary income support for young farmers, CISYF, scheme has a fund of approximately €35 million annually and 6,500 applicants. The CISYF, accompanied by the national reserve scheme, allocates payment entitlements to farmers at the national average. Coupled support, known as protein aid here in Ireland, amounts to about €10 million and is paid to approximately 1,500 tillage farmers each year.

At this point in the year, virtually all of last year's payments are completed under all these schemes. Therefore, I will concentrate on the dates for this year's payments. Advance payments for BISS and CRISS will begin issuing from the earliest date legally possible, which is 16 October, with balancing payments to be made in early December. The eco-scheme advance payments will issue about a week later. Balancing payments, along with full payment under the CISYF scheme and protein aid, will be paid from early December.

All of these dates are in line with previous years and farmers will be well used to them. Our goal, as always, is to pay the largest number of farmers the highest possible amount of money at the earliest allowable date. We are acutely aware of the impact these payments have on farmers and rural communities.

Balancing this aim, we are also mindful of our responsibilities and accountability for the funds distributed through these schemes. Ultimately, it is all taxpayers' money.

In terms of the Pillar 2 schemes that operate in my area, I would like to address applications and payment dates. These are funded by the EU and national Exchequer jointly, as follows. The areas of natural constraints, ANC, scheme, previously known as the disadvantaged areas scheme, has funding of €250 million annually and is received by almost 100,000 farmers. Advance payments will begin this year from 17 September with balancing payments, as usual, from December onwards. The straw incorporation measure, SIM, received a large number of applications this year - over 3,000 - and we estimate that some €15 million may be allocated to the scheme this year with payments scheduled to commence in December. The suckler carbon efficiency programme, SCEP, is a five-year CAP strategic plan, CSP, scheme with the aim of providing genetic improvements in the suckler herd. The scheme has a total budget of €256 million over the five years, at approximately €51 million per year. Payments are scheduled to commence in December, as has happened for the past two years. The CSP dairy beef welfare scheme runs from 2024 to 2027, with a total allocation of €25 million over the four years. Payments issued in respect of the 2024 year as scheduled last March and will operate on a similar basis in 2026. The CSP sheep improvement scheme is a five-year programme and has funding of €20 million per annum and advance payments will issue in November, with balancing payments in May. The knowledge transfer, KT, scheme supports engagement of farmers with advisers to help empower farmers with targeted knowledge to help their profitability and sustainability. Payments commenced issuing, via their KT facilitators, to farmers from March this year and are planned on a similar timeline for future years. The KT facilitator payments are scheduled to commence in August.

I would also like to mention the schemes operated in my area that are exclusively funded by the national Exchequer. These include the national sheep welfare scheme with funding of €22 million this year, for which payment is scheduled for November; and the national beef welfare scheme, with funding of €28 million this year. This scheme will open in early August and payment is scheduled for early December. Also included are the national dairy beef weighing scheme with funding of €4 million this year, for which payment will issue in December; and multispecies sward and red clover silage schemes, with combined funding of €2.5 million and payment will issue in November. This brings the total farm scheme payments in my area to €1.6 billion per annum.

The Cathaoirleach and committee members might remember that we now have a new farmers' charter in place after lengthy negotiations from 2023 into 2024. We take our commitments under the charter very seriously. It sets out dates for payments and targets for numbers of farmers paid at those dates that we have committed to meet. I believe we have had very good success in this so far, and our goal is to continue to improve our services over time. I acknowledge the good work carried out by the farmers charter monitoring committee, and the positive, constructive engagement by the farm bodies there.

I am conscious I have just read out a long list of schemes with similar titles and it is easy to see how that list could cause confusion. However, I note that every one of these schemes is fully subscribed, which underlines their importance to farmers and the good that comes from each of them for farmers, farming in general in Ireland and for our rural communities.

I hope this information is useful for the committee and I am happy to answer questions as we go.