Written answers

Tuesday, 29 June 2021

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Common Agricultural Policy

Photo of Seán SherlockSeán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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593. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the EU farm to fork strategy specifically details forestry related measures for potential inclusion in new eco or environmental schemes in the next CAP; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34423/21]

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Farm to Fork (F2F) Strategy forms part of the European Green Deal (EGD) which is the EU strategy for sustainable growth. The F2F Strategy is at the heart of the EGD: it addresses the challenges of sustainable food systems and recognises the links between healthy people, healthy societies and a healthy planet.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will help this sustainability transition and strengthen the efforts of European farmers to tackle climate change and protect the environment. The draft CAP regulation currently offers farmers a number of ways to contribute to our climate and environmental ambitions, including through eco-schemes and agri-environment climate measures.

Trialogue negotiations between the Commission, European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, aimed at reaching a final agreement on the new CAP have now concluded. While political agreement has been reached, further work remains on technical details of the proposed reforms and the final shape of the new legislative framework will now be examined carefully.

The development of measures, including individual actions on tree planting, is an ongoing process. My Department remains available to engage with all stakeholders to discuss any ideas on any aspect of next CAP.

I will continue to work to achieve the best possible outcome for Irish farmers.

Photo of Seán SherlockSeán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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594. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the EU farm to fork strategy details carbon farming and specifically forestry related activities as part of any new eco or environmental scheme in the next CAP; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34424/21]

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Farm to Fork Strategy, a key pillar of the European Green Deal, was published in May 2020.It includes reference to a new EU model of financially supporting farmers and foresters for sequestering carbon on their farms.

The Strategy identifies that farming practices that remove CO2from the atmosphere contribute to the climate neutrality objective and should be rewarded, either via the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) or other public or private initiatives (carbon market).

The new Common Agricultural Policy allows options to provide support for environmental action on farms, through the establishment of eco schemes that would make a proportion of Pillar I direct payments conditional on additional environmental action, or by encouraging specific additional environmental action through schemes established in Pillar II Rural Development Programme Schemes. Such measures could reward action to increase carbon sequestration on farms, for example, by encouraging sustainable management practices to reduce carbon loss from land.

Most recently the European Commission has published a Technical Guidance Handbook on setting up and implementing result-based carbon farming mechanisms which my officials are currently reviewing.

Through AgClimatise, the National Climate and Air Roadmap for the Agriculture Sector, I have committed to develop a pilot scheme for on-farm carbon trading, recognising the importance that our farmers play in storing carbon at farm level.

To build the knowledge and evidence base to support such a scheme, there are a number of new research projects and pilot studies in recent months, such as the National Soil Sampling Programme, which seek to improve the measurement of the greenhouse gas emission profile of Irish farms, which will be essential in providing the necessary data to realise the potential of carbon farming in Ireland. In addition projects such as the EIP Rewetting of Farmed Peatland Pilot Projects, along with the establishment of a National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory will all aim to address the knowledge deficit surrounding on farm carbon balances.

The Farm to Fork Strategy also includes a commitment for a legislative proposal to reduce the EU’s contribution to global deforestation and forest degradation.

The Department already supports afforestation, in a variety of configurations. Such planting can make an important contribution to carbon sequestration and the development of a new Forestry Strategy will look at ways to further enhance and support afforestation in Ireland.

Photo of Paul KehoePaul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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595. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the four flagship eco schemes announced as part of the Farm to Fork Strategy have been discussed by the CAP consultative committee; the way in which the forestry or afforestation component has been included in new eco or environmental schemes in the next CAP; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34428/21]

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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In October 2020, the European Commission published an illustrative list of examples of Eco-Schemes as announced in the Farm to Fork Strategy. This list was not presented to the CAP Consultative Committee as a stand alone item. However, it fed into discussions at Eco-Scheme and Green Architecture Workshops for Consultative Committee members on 19th November and 10th December 2020.

Based on the draft CAP Regulations, an overview of Ireland's proposed Eco-Scheme framework was presented to the CAP Consultative Committee for their consideration on 20th May 2021.

Negotiations between the Commission, European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, aimed at reaching a final agreement on the new CAP Regulations, are still ongoing. The final shape of the new legislative framework will only be clear when this process concludes.

I will continue to examine all options presented during the negotiations, with the objective of achieving the best possible outcome for Irish agriculture. The development of measures, including possible actions on tree planting under the Eco-Scheme and other environmental schemes, is still an ongoing process.

Photo of Paul KehoePaul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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596. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the fact that the four flagship eco schemes announced as part of the Farm to Fork Strategy suggest that forestry can be included as part of the next CAP and could be included in any new eco schemes even if the national forestry programme was to be funded entirely separately from CAP; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34438/21]

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Eco-Schemes are being proposed for the first time as part of the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and will be funded from within Pillar 1 of the CAP budget. Eco-Schemes will be annual schemes that farmers can choose to participate in each year. Each Member State will have to develop an Eco-Scheme and will have to establish a list of Eco-Scheme actions.

The European Commission has outlined that agricultural practices that could be supported by Eco-Schemes must be related to climate, environment, animal welfare and antimicrobial resistance. The measures are to be defined on the basis of the needs and priorities identified at national/regional levels and their level of ambition has to go beyond the requirements and obligations established under the baseline, including conditionality. The measures shall contribute to reaching the EU Green Deal targets.

The Farm to Fork Strategy, published by the Commission in 2020, lists a number of sustainable practices which may be supported under Eco-Schemes, with agro-forestry being one such practice. My Department is currently examining ways in which a tree planting measure could be supported under the Eco-Scheme.

Trialogue negotiations between the Commission, European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, aimed at reaching a final agreement on the new CAP have now concluded. While political agreement has been reached, further work remains on technical details of the proposed reforms and the final shape of the new legislative framework will now be examined carefully.

I will continue to work to achieve the best possible outcome for Irish farmers.

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