Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Ó Cuív for the question and I am pleased to update him and the House on the state of play on the transitional arrangements.

Discussions on the legislative proposals are now nearing completion after an extended and intensive period of engagement at EU level. The legislation is expected to be approved shortly, by mid-December, and published shortly afterwards, subject to agreement on the EU budget. In this regard, the proposals incorporate EU recovery instrument funding, of which €190 million is earmarked for Ireland. This will be programmed through the rural development programme in the two-year transitional period in 2021 and 2022.

In the meantime, my Department has made preparations for the transitional period within the parameters of the current rules, and in anticipation of the finalised EU transitional rules being forthcoming. In October, I announced my intention to extend schemes under the rural development programme into 2021, and I provided the necessary funding of €628 million in the budget.

The extension of existing rural development programme schemes required approval from the EU. I am pleased to advise the House that approval was received last week for the extension of contracts under GLAS, the beef data genomics programme, the Burren programme and the organic farming scheme. My Department will be in contact shortly with farmers whose contracts are due to end this year, to advise them how to opt in if they wish to extend their contracts. Support for other annual schemes is expected to continue, including the sheep welfare scheme and the areas of natural constraints scheme. I have provided for €80 million for TAMS in 2021 to meet existing commitments, and decisions on other tranches will be made when there is more certainty around the transitional rules. I will continue to consult with stakeholders on the options for the transitional period over the coming weeks as we have more certainty around the rules and funding.

The European CAP national strategic plan is being finalised. Over the course of the coming months, it is something that will have to be considerably fleshed out in terms of our national plan that will decide how we structure the seven-year programme at national level, obviously being compliant with the overall European programme.

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