Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

564. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason the Assistant Secretary of his Department (details supplied) indicated at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and the Marine on 27 May 2021 that a request by an organisation to become a member of the CAP Post-2020 Consultative Committee was still being considered, despite the Minister of State in his Department stating in a letter on 24 May 2021 that there was no need to broaden membership of the committee; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35812/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I would like to assure the Deputy that both my colleague Minister of State Pippa Hackett and I have given careful consideration to the request for participation in the CAP Consultative Committee by the organisation named. We met the organisation bilaterally just this week at which this issue was discussed. As the Deputy is aware, the EU negotiations on the Common Agriculture Policy concluded recently. Each Member State is now finalising its proposed CAP Strategic Plan and must lodge this with the European Commission no later than 1st January 2022.

Our CAP Consultative Committee has been meeting for over two years now and the request from the body named was only recently received. We are of course open to bilateral direct engagement and the Department has offered direct engagement on this matter including presentations on latest developments. We have also invited the organisation named to submit their proposals on how tree-planting can play a larger role in our CAP schemes and we look forward to constructive discussions with them on this.

Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

565. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the way forestry has been discussed or considered during recent CAP negotiations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35813/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy will be aware, at the June Agri-Fish Council, Agriculture Ministers accepted the provisional deal agreed between the Council Presidency and the European Parliament on 25th June.

The new CAP Regulations aim to increase the environmental and climate ambition of Member States. This provides opportunities to support tree planting and farm forestry, as part of a sustainable farming model, and such options are being explored. Forestry is critical to the overall agriculture eco-system. Forestry can provide a complementary and supplementary activity to other schemes being implemented on farms, and officials are examining how to ensure that there is integration between the CAP Strategic Plan and the next Forestry Programme.

The current Forestry Programme 2014-2020 (extended to end 2022) is entirely exchequer-funded and received State Aid approval from the European Commission. Due to the long-term nature of forestry, the best option to continue to deliver the forestry programme is to do so entirely separately from the CAP Strategic Plan, subject to new State Aid rules rather than the requirements of the CAP Strategic Plan Regulations.

Various stakeholder organisations, representing a variety of interest groups, have representation on both the CAP post-2020 Consultative Committee and the Forestry Policy Group to further enhance coherence between both policy areas. These include:

- Irish Farmers Association (IFA)

- Agricultural Consultants Association

- Teagasc

- Environmental Protection Agency

- Environmental Pillar

- An Taisce

- Bird Watch Ireland

- Irish Rural Link

There is regular engagement between the Department and the Forestry Sector through the Forestry Policy Group, the newly established Project Woodland, and the various COFORD working groups. This engagement will continue as the CAP Strategic Plan is developed over the coming months.