Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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449. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to set out the status of the progress towards the programme for Government commitment to propose a lowering of the cap on basic payments from €150,000 to €100,000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40880/16]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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450. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to set out the status of the progress towards the programme for Government commitment to propose a lowering of the cap on basic payments from €150,000 to €100,000; the number of Agriculture Council meetings at which he raised this subject with his EU colleagues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40881/16]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 449 and 450 together.

The €150,000 limit on basic payments is enshrined in Regulation 1307/2013, which establishes the current rules for direct payments to farmers under support schemes within the framework of the CAP. The lowering of this limit would require a legislative change in Council, something that is not envisaged as part of the Commission's ongoing simplification programme.

However, the lowering of the basic payment ceiling to €100,000 is something I am committed to, in line with the programme for Government. I will be seeking to address this matter in the context of the future reform of the CAP. No proposals have yet been tabled in this regard by the Commission, either in the context of a mid-term review of the current framework or in the context of future policy post-2020. However, I will be tabling the matter at the appropriate point as the discussions on future policy evolve.