The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has to date, made 28 separate requests to access funding under the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR), according to information provided by the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform.
The EU’s €5.47 billion BAR fund provides support to counter the adverse economic, social, territorial, and environmental consequences of the withdrawal of the UK from the EU.
Ireland’s allocation for the four-year BAR period (2020-2023) is €1.165 billion. The government has repeatedly been urged by TDs and farm organisations to use the BAR to support the sheep sector, however, without success.
DAFM
Specific funding of €389 million was provided in Budgets 2022 and 2023, of which the DAFM was allocated €271 million, Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Paschal Donohoe said.
The minister added that “further funding” can be considered for allocation over the remainder of 2023.
Department BAR funding allocated
over the course of
Budgets 2022 and 2023Agriculture €271 million Enterprise €15 million Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science €37.3 million Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform €4.4 million Foreign Affairs €2.2 million Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht Sports and Media €7.75 million Environment, Climate and Communications €24 million Health €5.5 million Justice €21.5 million Transport €100,000 Total €389 million
In 2022, €33.2 million was allocated to the fisheries sector; €1.5 million to the horticultural sector; and €5.3 million to fund an Enterprise Ireland capital investment scheme for meat and dairy processing, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue said.
In 2023, €238 million is allocated for Brexit-related purposes, including further supports for the fisheries sector (€162.15 million), horticulture (€9.85 million), and a capital investment scheme for meat and dairy processing (€17 million).
In addition, €20 million has been allocated to develop facilities for the disposal of meat and bone meal by-product, and €28 million for a Brexit beef scheme. DAFM officials are “currently considering” the design of this scheme, Minister McConalogue said.
The DAFM is “actively considering other proposals”, and working closely with the department of public expenditure to maximise the funding from the BAR that is available to the various sectors under the DAFM’s remit, the minister said.
Irish fishing sector
Since the publication of the Seafood Task Force report published in October 2021, €267.8 million in supports and developmental strategies have been launched and announced under the BAR.
This includes an €80 million Brexit Voluntary Decommissioning Scheme; a €20 million Brexit Sustainable Aquaculture Growth Scheme; and a €45 million Seafood Capital Processing Support Scheme.
Minister McConalogue established the task force to examine the implications of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) for the fishing and seafood industry and coastal communities.
Brexit fund
Applications to access the BAR must set out the negative impacts of the withdrawal of the UK from the EU, and how the measures carried out under the fund alleviate the adverse consequences.
The BAR eligibility period for expenditure runs from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2023. A review exercise to capture Brexit-related spending for possible inclusion in Ireland’s BAR claim is currently ongoing.
Thus it is “not possible” at this time to confirm an amount as BAR spending to date, the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform said.
A figure of €600 million has been allocated to mitigate Brexit in advance of Budget 2022. Work is ongoing to verify this funding for eligibility and inclusion in Ireland’s final BAR claim in September 2024, Minister Donohoe said.
The department is also engaging with the European Commission on clarifications regarding the eligibility criteria for BAR funding.