Discussions on the post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are "increasingly focused" on the remaining political and technical issues according to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Minister Martin Heydon said that as discussions also continue around the European Commission's long-term budget there are some countries, particularly in Eastern Europe, who are pushing for more money to be earmarked for defence.

"There are also many countries saying they are not able to pay more in," Minister Heydon warned.

The minister had been asked in the Dáil this week to provide an update on the CAP negotiations by the Sinn Féin spokesperson on agriculture and food, Martin Kenny.

Minister Heydon told the Dáil that an appropriate balance must be struck between "maintaining the common nature of the CAP and providing member states with sufficient flexibility to design and implement interventions that reflect their national farming systems and circumstances".

He also indicated that "negotiations on the post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy are progressing well".

But Minister Heydon added that the current ring-fenced budget for CAP is "not nearly enough for what we need".

The prospective indicative CAP allocation for Ireland of €8.16 billion for 2028-2034 compares to a current €10.7 billion allocation.

One of the chief concerns for Ireland is the prospect that CAP funding could be cut for Irish farmers by as much as 24%.

Minister Heydon told Deputy Kenny that "there is more money to be chased in terms of the overall pot but there is conditionality around it".

The European Commission has proposed that the next CAP should be built around a single fund.

This means that the current two-pillar structure would be replaced  with a single framework under a National and Regional Partnership Plan (NRPP). 

Deputy Kenny had questioned the minister on whether there had been any progress in relation to retaining  the Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 structure and the "possibility of more coupling".

According to Minister Heydon in terms of coupled payments this is directly linked to what happens with entitlements.

"Right now, there is no provision for entitlements.

"We have to work within the mechanisms. I am happy that in recent times, under the Cyprus Presidency, we did get a number of decisions made, such as on active farming, under the CAP regulation and not the NRPP regulation, which means it will be the agriculture ministers deciding, which is very important," Minister Heydon added.

He also underlined to the Dáil this week how important CAP is to Ireland.

"On the financial return, 75% of our receipts come back through the CAP.

"This matters to the whole economy because if we see a reduction in CAP, it will reduce the amount of money available to come back to the economy from Europe," he warned.