Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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384. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to detail the spend as proposed by him to the European Commission in the rural development plan application on each measure of the new plan 2014-20, broken down between national and European spend; the annual forecast for spend on each measure for the years 2014-23; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11925/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Rural Development Programme (RDP), 2014-2020 will be a key support in enhancing the competitiveness of the agri-food sector, achieving more sustainable management of natural resources and ensuring a more balanced development of rural areas. EU Regulation No 1305/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on support for Rural Development by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) sets out the breakdown of EU support for rural development for each Member State for the years 2014 – 2020. Ireland's total EAFRD allocation for rural development is some €2.19 billion (or some €313 million per annum), as agreed at the EU Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) negotiations in 2013. EU funding amounts are combined with national co-funding to provide for each Member State's RDP.

The MFF is subject to a formal amendment process at EU level for RDPs approved in 2015. However, the average amount of EU support per annum remains the same. It has been agreed that a letter of comfort will issue to Member States who have informally agreed their RDP with the Commission in 2015 but where formal adoption of the RDP will be delayed by amendments to the MFF.

The main headings of expenditure in Ireland's draft RDP are €1.3bn in respect of Areas of Natural Constraint, €1.4bn in respect of Agri-Environment Schemes (including transitional expenditure), €112m in respect of a range of knowledge transfer measures, €295m in respect of the Beef Data and Genomics Programme, €395m in respect of support for on farm capital investment, €56m in respect of support for organic farming, €3m in support for collaborative farming arrangements, €250m for LEADER funding, and €6m in respect of technical assistance to support the implementation of the RDP. The standard co-financing rate applied to these measures in the draft RDP is 53%, with higher rates of 56% applied to expenditure under Measure 10 (Agri-Environment and Climate) and 65% applied to Measure 19 (LEADER). The actual rate of drawdown over the period may vary as the financial plan is subject to ongoing management and review.

Detailed discussions and intensive negotiations have been ongoing between my Department and the Commission in recent months in order to secure agreement on the new RDP. Ireland's RDP has now been formally resubmitted to the EU Commission where it has entered the Commission's final round of inter-services consultation. When this process is complete, the schemes and supports contained in Ireland's RDP will be rolled out in line with the annual budgetary process.