Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The funding allocation for future agri-environment measures arising out of the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), including the use of Carbon Tax funds, will be determined in consultation with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. However, the Programme for Government committed to using €1.5bn in carbon tax receipts between 2020 and 2030 for use in the agri-sector and that is a commitment I will honour.

Work is ongoing on the development of a new agri-environmental climate measure under the new CAP with due regard to the proposed new Green Architecture. A hybrid model is being considered which means it would offer a combination of prescription based actions with a fixed rate of payment and results based actions where the level of payment will be dependent on result achieved.

The lessons learned from the Results-based Environment-Agri Pilot (REAP) will assist in the design of the latter. It is proposed that the new measure will include a range of actions encompassing agri-environment, climate, water quality and biodiversity, and will include targeting of priority habitats.

Work on the preparation of the overall draft CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027 (CSP) has intensified in the Department. Development of the plan involves a number of stages, including SWOT analysis, needs assessment, intervention design, financial allocations, target setting (including monitoring) and governance systems. The draft CSP is also subject to an ex-ante evaluation, Strategic Environmental Assessment and Appropriate Assessment including a public consultation on the draft CSP and draft Environmental Report.

The Department has recently completed a five-week public consultation on the proposed draft interventions for the CSP 2023-2027 with over 1,000 responses received. Department officials are currently considering these proposals as the CSP is developed. I am currently consulting with farmers and other stakeholders on the content of the CSP at a series of mart meetings. I will continue to engage with farmers and all stakeholders as we develop our CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027.