Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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1921. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will allow farmers to repay BEAM funding over a much longer timeframe to improve their cashflow situation in the short term; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20776/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The objective of the Beef Exceptional Aid Measure (BEAM) was to provide 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.  Over 34,500 farmers had applied for BEAM at its closing date of 20 September 2019 and it saw some €78 million in payments issue to participating farmers.

One of the conditions under which funding was granted by the EU was that there had to be an element of re-structuring built into the scheme as set out in Article 1 (3) of EU Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1132. Accordingly, in applying for BEAM, participants agreed to reduce the production of bovine livestock manure nitrogen on their holding by 5% in either the original reduction period (1 July 2020 – 30 June 2021) or the deferred reduction period (1 January 2021 – 31 December 2021) when compared with the reference period of 1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019.

Approximately 22,000 participants did meet all the commitments set out in section 7.0 of the BEAM Terms and Conditions and thus successfully exited the scheme. A further approximately 11,000 participants did not meet some or all of the commitments set out in section 7.0 of the BEAM Terms and Conditions. As a result, recoupment of almost €18 million in over-payments has commenced.

As an Accredited EU Paying Agency, my Department  must recover debts in respect of over-payments and penalties across a broad range of agricultural schemes, including the BEAM scheme. Debt recovery may be facilitated by means of direct repayment by the farmer or through deductions from other payments due. If a farmer is experiencing financial difficulties, payment by instalments over a period of time can be accommodated on a case-by-case basis.  In such situations the farmer may contact the Accounts Division of my Department to discuss their circumstances and to arrange an appropriate payment plan. The availability of this facility was advised to affected BEAM participants when they were notified with details of their BEAM over-payment. The Department's Accounts Division can be contacted by telephone on (049) 4368207 or by email at debtrecovery@agriculture.gov.ie

Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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1922. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the investment ceiling in TAMS will be increased for dairy and beef investments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20777/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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There are a wide variety of items available under the suite of seven measures under TAMS II available for beef and dairy investments. There are no plans to increase the investment ceiling available under TAMS II in 2022.

To date, total expenditure under the seven measures of the TAMS, including transitional expenditure, has reached in excess of €353m with commitments of an additional €109m made to scheme participants who have yet to draw down those grants. Some 49,178 applications have been approved under the scheme. All outstanding approvals issued represent potential outstanding liabilities for the Department and we must have a budget in place to pay these claims.

As detailed in the draft Cap Strategic Plan(CSP), subject to the approval of the European Commission, it is proposed under an On-Farm Capital Investment Scheme under the CSP that the investment ceiling will be increased to €90,000. Details of the specific investments have not yet been finalised in relation to the interventions to be included in the CAP Strategic Plan (CSP)(2023-2027). The Capital Investment Scheme (CIS), as is the case with all proposals under the CAP Strategic Plan (CSP), is subject to the formal approval of the European Commission.

Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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1923. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will introduce a substantial beef finisher scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20787/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The nature of all markets, particularly in export dependent sectors such as Irish beef,  is that the price for inputs and outputs will fluctuate.  I am acutely aware of the potential pressures being faced by many sectors across the agriculture industry due to the increase in input costs. The Department continuously monitors the market situation for beef and other agri-food commodities, with a view to responding to crisis situations where possible.

I raised concerns in relation to the impacts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on agri-food supply chains at the extraordinary informal meeting of European Union Agriculture Ministers held on 2nd March and at the AgriFish Council on 21st March. At these meetings I underlined the need to closely monitor supply chains to ensure an effective and functioning Single Market, and to be ready to consider any measures that may help to alleviate the difficulties caused.

The Commission has already announced a number of support measures, including the introduction of private storage aid for the pigmeat sector, a new exceptional aid support package making available a fund of €500 million for affected sectors, increased payment advances in 2022 and a new temporary State Aid framework.

More specifically for the beef sector, the Department provides a range of financial aids to support beef farm incomes and to support economic and environmental efficiency. The core support for the beef sector under the outgoing RDP is the €300 Million Beef Data and Genomics Programme. In addition to this support, since 2020, over €260 million of extra supports were made available specifically to the beef sector. These supports are additional to the more general supports that beef farmers can avail of under the current RDP including ANCs.

As the Deputy will be aware, the proposal for the beef sector in Ireland's new CAP strategic plan is to continue to provide support to farmers by building on the efficiency gains of the BDGP and the BEEP-S measures through the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme. I remain committed to supporting the economic and environmental sustainability of the suckler and beef sector.