Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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51. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will consider reducing the current CAP ceiling from €150,000 to €60,000; and his views on whether the current system is unfair and inequitable in view of the fact that certain persons are in receipt of large six figure sums while younger persons struggle to get on to the scheme. [27965/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The cap of €150,000 on basic payments is set down in the Direct Payments Regulation, 1307/2013.  This regulation establishes the current rules for direct payments to farmers under support schemes within the framework of the CAP.  The lowering of the limit below this amount would require a legislative change in Council, something that has not been envisaged by the Commission as part of their ongoing simplification programme.

Ireland had already imposed the lowest payment CAP permissible in the EU Regulations to limit payments to Irish farmers to a maximum of €150,000.  Furthermore, the EU Regulation does not permit Member States to use the product of capping of Basic Payment Scheme payments for the purposes of replenishing or increasing payments to other farmers under the Pillar 1 schemes. Funding derived from capping is transferred to Pillar 2.

In respect of fairness and equity, under Pillar I,   farmers who hold entitlements that have an Initial Unit Value that is below 90% of the Basic Payment Scheme national average see the value of their entitlements increase gradually over the five years of the scheme and by 2019, all entitlements for all farmers in Ireland will be at least 60% of the National Average value.

I am however committed to lowering the basic payment ceiling to €100,000, 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.  Proposals from the Commission in this regard are not expected until early 2018 and I will be tabling the matter at the appropriate point as discussions on the future policy evolves.