Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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753. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if Ireland will be implementing a new sector specific income stabilisation tool as provided under EU Regulation 2017/2393. [12756/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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EU Regulation 2017/2393 came into force on 1 January 2018 and introduced a new sector-specific income stabilisation tool under article 39a of the Rural Development Regulation 1305/2013. The sector-specific income stabilisation tool, in the form of financial contributions to mutual funds, provides compensation of up to 70% to farmers of a specific sector for a severe drop in their income i.e. a drop in income of at least 20%.

Ireland's 2014-2020 Rural Development Programme (RDP) was approved by the Commission in 2015 and is based on a thorough analysis of needs and priorities identified over a lengthy period of consultation with stakeholders. The income stabilisation tools were not programmed under the RDP and there are no plans to introduce a sector-specific income stabilisation tool. The budget available under the RDP is fully committed and I anticipate that the entire €4 billion will be spent and that the €2.19 billion of EU co-funding will be drawn down.

Ireland's 2014-2020 RDP addresses the broader issue of risk management via the following schemes:

- Measure 1 - Knowledge Transfer Groups have incorporated financial and risk management issues into the outputs and actions to be delivered by the scheme.

- Measure 2 - Targeted Animal Health and Advisory Services (TASAH) targets a number of core areas where the economic rationale for managing the risk of animal disease is particularly prominent.

- Measure 4 - Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) includes a specific strand of support for Animal Welfare and Farm Safety.

Outside of the 2014-2020 RDP, the Basic Payment Scheme increases income and reduces income variability. On the taxation side, the Minister for Finance and I have agreed that officials from our Departments will examine the issue of income stabilisation from a taxation perspective and report later this year. ##