Éamon Ó Cuív seeks clarity on CAP transition and farm payments

We are coming to the end of the year and of course 2021 beckons. Now there is a small typo in the question. I think I made the mistake when I submitted it. It should be the years 2021 and 2022 because in my view it will be 2023 and maybe you could confirm that before the new cap comes into force. So the question is what are the transition arrangements going to be for 2021 and 2022 and furthermore what progress has been made in the greater scheme of things for the cap from 2021 to 2022. in other words, the full cap that will come into force sometime in the coming years, but obviously it is not going to be there on 1 January next year. Thank you, Deputy. Minister Macombach. Thank you, Deputy Agui, for your question. I am pleased to have the opportunity to update you and to update the House on the current state of play on the transitional arrangements. The discussions on the legislative proposals are now nearing completion after an extended and intensive period of engagement at a EU level. The legislation is expected to be approved by mid-December, so in the next short period of time, and published shortly afterwards, subject to agreement on the EU budget. In that regard, the proposals incorporate EU recovery instrument funding, of which €190 million is earmarked for Ireland. This will be programmed through the Rural Development Programme in the two-year transitional period from 2021 to 2022. In the meantime, my department has made preparations for the transitional period within the parameters of the current rules and in anticipation of finalised EU transitional rules being forthcoming. In October, I announced my intention to extend schemes under the Rural Development Programme into 2021 and provided the necessary funding of €620 million for that in the budget as well. The extension of existing Rural Development Programme schemes required approval from the EU. I am pleased to advise the House that approval was received last week for the extension of contracts under the glass, the beef data genomics programme, the boron programme and the organic farming scheme as well. My department will be in contact shortly with farmers whose contracts are due to end this year to advise them how to opt in if they wish to end their contracts. Support for other annual schemes is expected to continue, including for the sheep welfare scheme and also for the ANC. In relation to TAMS, I have provided €80 million in 2021 to meet existing commitments and decisions in relation to other tranches will be made when there is more certainty around the transitional rules. I will continue, Deputy Acquive, to consult with stakeholders around the options for the transitional period over the coming weeks as we have more certainty around rules and funding. Certainly in relation to the programme, then for the EARCAP National Strategic Plan, obviously that is being finalised in terms of the European plan, Deputy Acquive, but over the course of the next number of months, that is something that is going to have to be considerably fleshed out in terms of our own national plan that will decide how we structure the seven-year programme at national level, obviously being compliant with the overall European programme. Deputy Acquive. Deputy Acquive. Deputy Acquive. � Hwell. Deputy Acquive. Colby. Oh, wellbeing. Thank you. So, Minister, if you maybe could confirm that I am right in an understanding that BPS will continue 20-21...22 more or less as is until the back of the REDCAP comes in. That ANC will continue as is for those two years. That anybody in Gloss will continue for another year. And that other schemes such as sheep welfare and ergonomics and so on, will see out their full Minister, could you confirm to me whether we have any more detail on the proposed environmental new scheme for the transitional period that you mentioned that will be done on a pilot basis and how widespread will that be and how available will it be to people who have left EOS and didn't get into glass or people who have never been in the scheme because the young farmers, you might flesh out what you now know about this alternative environmental scheme to glass for those who are not in glass at the moment. That is a matter of concern because people depend on these environmental payments to put bread on the table. If we confine it to that in the first place, you might confirm the current schemes, BPS and so on and then the glass scheme and then we come back then on the longer period schemes. The BPS comes entirely 100% funded from the Commission. That will continue as a BPS payment directly from them. The multi-annual financial framework runs for seven years alongside the seven-year cap programme. Even though there is a two-year transition period, I am not sure that the second year has been formally signed off at European level yet, but certainly the full expectation is that it will be a two-year transition period. While the full cap programme won't get going until January 2023, in every likelihood the new BPS payments and the seven-year multi-annual financial framework already starts. The domestic budget which I introduced in October was really important in relation to the rural development schemes, which will continue next year. The next year's budget will be important in relation to ensuring that they are in place for the year 2022, but the rollover will happen next year for people to be able to continue in them. I will come back to you further in relation to the new scheme in my further supplement. I take it, too, that even though the money for BPS is coming out of the new programme, the BPS rules are likely to stay more or less as they are until 2021. My understanding is that, after 2021, whatever replaces BPS and greening could be different and could be radically different from what we have. ANC could be different than all the rural development schemes. Have we any idea, from preliminary papers that are probably floating around the system, have we any idea of the post-22 shape of the schemes and the changes, and particularly their impact on farmers and farmers' incomes? That is obviously going to become a concern over the next two years. Is it going to be radically different? Are there going to be a lot of conditions there that might make it difficult for some farmers to access these schemes and keep their payments going? You might give some indication to me of how these schemes are beginning to shape out in Europe. No doubt there are discussion papers floating around the system, as there always are, and my experience was that 90 per cent of what they produce at the beginning is implemented at the end. You might give us some insight into that. The Minister, your plan or advice? Yes, thanks Deputy Creeves. Just to go back on the point that I didn't get time to finish on last time, the €79 million additional funding for next year in relation to additional environmental measures. That will be spent in a variety of ways. It will be open, a fair proportion of it will be open to all farmers, those currently in a glass scheme and those not. Also, there is going to be a pilot environmental scheme for those who are not currently in glass and for whom it is being rolled over. That is something that I am consulting and will be consulting over the next short period of time with farming organisations on into the very start of the year and then to have up and running very early in the year as well. In relation to the framework and how the next cap will look, obviously there is going to be a change in relation to pillar one because we are now going to have the new eco scheme as part of that. That is going to have to set a baseline of conditionality that will then be built upon in relation to pillar two. I will be consulting very widely with farming organisations, farmers and within the political system as well in relation to how we structure and what schemes we put in place. Obviously, they will have to meet the general requirements set at European level but we will have a lot of discretion at national level which I will consult widely on to try and make sure they are practical and deliver as well as possible for farmers.