Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That was the situation with greening with the outgoing CAP. As the Deputy knows, the eco schemes are being introduced now as part of Pillar 1, accounting for a proposed 25% this time around, which will be totally disconnected from entitlement value and will be paid at a flat rate per hectare.

While I do not have the full table here, the divergence might not be quite as large on a county basis as people might think, even though it is significant. That gap will be closing in the time ahead because we will be moving to 85% convergence over the course of the next CAP. In addition, there is the flattening impact of the eco scheme and the flattening impact of front-loading, with 25% in the eco scheme and an additional 10% in front-loading. That 35% will flatten immediately from the start of the next CAP and the remainder will flatten to 85% over the course of the period.

In counties, such as Clare with more small and medium-sized farms, the front-loading will have a significant impact and that will add an additional €42 per entitlement on the first 30 ha. I know that will affect a number of farmers in the Deputy's county.

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