Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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273. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the efforts he is making to retain full funding for existing farm schemes in the CAP transition phase; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27595/20]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I can assure the Deputy that I am working with my officials and Ministerial colleagues to ensure that we have a sufficient national and EU budget for the transitional period.   The national funding is a matter for discussion as part of the annual budgetary process which is currently underway.  EU funding is somewhat more complex - the exact budgetary details will have to be incorporated into the transitional regulations after agreement on the EU budget has been reached between the European Council and the European Parliament. This is not now expected until late October at the earliest.

On continuing existing schemes, I can say that, in cases where contracts are already in place to continue beyond 2020, these will continue as outlined under the RDP.  

However, the issue is more complex for annual measures or multi-annual measures that are scheduled to finish at the end of 2020. 

Regarding the plans for the existing schemes under the Rural Development Programme, no final decisions will be made until there is clarity in relation to budget and duration.

In the meantime, I am currently considering the potential options available, as well as engaging with stakeholders for their views. We will need to ensure that what we do in the transitional period is consistent with Programme for Government commitments, as well as providing a solid foundation for the development of our CAP Strategic Plan for the period to 2027. In addition, the very ambitious targets set out in the EU Bio-Diversity Strategy and Farm to Fork Strategy will have to be taken into account.