Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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54. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there will be a provision in CAP in which persons who had no basic payment entitlements are given some if they have a record of farming in the previous two years similar to that provided for in the last CAP reform under the Scottish Derogation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41627/20]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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In 2015, the Scottish Derogation saw payment entitlements allocated from the National Reserve to farmers who actively farmed in 2013 but had not previously held entitlements under the Single Payment Scheme and also satisfied the eligibility criteria. This was a once-off method of allocation of payment entitlements from the National Reserve and it has not occurred since 2015. In the current CAP programme new payment entitlements are allocated from the National Reserve.

With regard to the next CAP, the draft regulations do not specifically provide for a Scottish Derogation type of allocation of payment entitlements from the National Reserve. Like the current system, the proposed regulations provide for a National Reserve to be used by Member States, as a matter of priority, to allocate payment entitlements to young farmers and also new entrants.

However, the discussions on new CAP regulations are ongoing and the position regarding the National Reserve in the next programming period cannot be confirmed until such time as the regulatory provisions are agreed and in place. My Department will continue to engage in the reform of the CAP with the European Commission, Parliament and other Member States to obtain optimal outcomes for Irish farmers.