Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I take it he is referring to the mid-term review of the European Union's 2021-2027 MFF, as it is the financial framework that sets the funding allocations across the various headings of the EU budget, including the Common Agricultural Policy. Last month the Commission published its proposals for a limited and targeted revision of the 2021-2027 MFF, which is the overall budget for all European Union spending. Ireland's response to the proposed targeted review is let by the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Finance in close co-ordination with the Department of the Taoiseach. The review is quite limited and restricted to a number of specific policy challenges, notably the EU supports for the Ukrainian Government, migration and expected higher interest payments on the EU’s debt. The budget for the Common Agriculture Policy does not form part of the Commission’s proposed amendments in this midterm review exercise. Nor does the latter include the other large spending area of cohesion. The Government engaged with the Commission both before and after the publication of these proposals. Among our priorities, we stressed to the Commission the need to ensure the hard-fought funding provisions for the Common Agricultural Policy are protected and that there should be no proposals to divert CAP funding to other spending headings. I am glad this is reflected in the Commission’s proposals, but I and my officials will remain vigilant as the review is negotiated by the EU’s General Affairs Council in the months ahead.

We are in a five-year CAP programme now. Entitlement values within Pillar 1, for example, are set in stone until the end of 2027. We are rolling all the Pillar 2 payments and all the various schemes out at the moment. Most of them are five-year contracts. The Government has delivered a 50% increase in our national funding contribution to Pillar 2 and to CAP to ensure those schemes can be massively strong. An example of that is the new suckler scheme, where cows are being paid at a rate of €150 a head for the first 23 compared with €90 a head for the first ten, which was the case until last December. That is a commitment we have and one we will look to continue to back.

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