Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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1133. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of farmers required to make payment to his Department arising from the BEAM scheme; the average payment; the average amount interest; the amount of payments made; the amount outstanding by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14263/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The detailed information requested by the Deputy is being assembled and will be forwarded to him as soon as possible.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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1134. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if, he has considered deferring the BEAM scheme repayments or if he has engaged with the European Commission seeking further flexibility in view of current rising input costs volatility in feed accessibility and prices; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14264/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I am acutely aware of the challenges facing farmers with regard to very significantly increased input costs, arising from the impact of the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine.

At an emergency Agriculture Council on 2nd March, I joined colleagues from across the EU in highlighting concerns about the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, food security across Europe, and the availability and price of animal feed and fertilisers.

I welcomed Agriculture Commissioner Wojciechowski’s assurance that the European Commission stands ready to make support measures available as required. I look forward to the Commission’s detailed proposals in this regard.

The Beef Exceptional Aid Measure (BEAM) provided temporary exceptional adjustment aid to farmers in the beef sector in Ireland, subject to the conditions set out in EU Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1132. BEAM was funded by a combination of EU aid and Exchequer support. It was provided to support Irish beef farmers who saw beef prices fall as a result of disturbance to the market.

Some 10,342 BEAM participants, who opted for the deferred reduction period under the scheme, have now been processed and while 2,872 were found to have met the 5% reduction requirement 7,470 did not. BEAM participants agreed to the terms and conditions which stated that:

“where a penalty is applied, the applicant shall be required to reimburse the Department by the amount of the penalty, or the amount of the penalty may be deducted from subsequent payments being made by the Department, under any scheme, to the applicant”.

As the BEAM scheme was co-funded by the EU, under EU Regulations governing the accreditation of the Department as an EU Paying Agency, my Department is obliged to recover amounts unduly paid plus any interest at the earliest opportunity. The rate of interest is set by regulation at 3% per annum. Any money still outstanding to my Department one month after the notification of the overpayment is subject to interest.

BEAM participants have been notified of this and have also been informed of the re-payment options available to them. Anyone for whom the recoupment of their BEAM payment will cause serious financial hardship can contact the Accounts Division of my Department to discuss extended repayment arrangements by telephone on (049) 4368207.