Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Connolly for raising this important point. European Innovation Partnership projects, EIPs, are locally led innovative projects developed by operational groups acting collaboratively towards a common goal. They are a fantastic vehicle and one I used in my previous role as Minister of State. We use such projects across a range of areas within the Department of agriculture. EIPs represent a really important funding model that bring together innovation actors, including farmers, advisers, researchers, businesses and NGOs, to work together to address local challenges through innovative solutions that can more easily be put into practice on farms.

Together with my Department, the EU co-funds EIP projects as part of the CAP strategic plan 2023-2027. Under the CSP, an open call for proposals for European Innovation Partnership projects on the overall theme of environmental sustainability was launched on 5 November 2024 with an associated budget of €17.5 million. This was an extremely important EIP call which sought solutions for sustainable agriculture, soil health, horticulture, organics, the circular economy and the bioeconomy.

I was delighted with the response rate with 96 applications being received as part of the phase 1 process. Of this total, 27 applicants were selected to submit a more detailed project proposal under phase 2 of the competition, which closed on 24 February 2025. These detailed project proposals will be evaluated in April, this month, by an expert evaluation committee comprising internal and external experts. I look forward to announcing the successful projects under the EIP environmental sustainability call once the work of the expert committee has been concluded. As the evaluation process is still ongoing, I am not in a position to comment on any particular application.

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