The Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan (CSP) will be brought to cabinet this morning by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue.
The CSP will determine how Ireland will distribute funding under the new CAP in 2023 to 2027 through a number of new schemes, some of which are replacing current schemes, while others are new, such as the eco-scheme in Pillar I.
The plan must be submitted to the European Commission by the end of the year, and it must be ratified by the European Commission before it comes into force in 2023.
The CSP, if ratified, will see total funding across all schemes and measures worth €9.8 billion. This includes €2.3 billion in co-funding from the Irish government.
The main feature of the CSP is the eco-scheme, which will be funded through 25% of the CAP Pillar I budget. This is optional for farmers to take part in, but not doing so will see a farmer’s basic payment reduced by 25%.
The new scheme for the basic payment – currently known as the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) – will be known as the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) after 2023.
In the new CAP, the BISS payment will be subject to the front loading of payments on the first 30ha, accounting for 10% of the overall Pillar I budget. This is a mechanism known as the Complimentary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS).
The BISS will also be subject to convergence of 85%, i.e. all payments below the national average will be brought to within 85% of that average. Capping of payments will also apply, with an “effective cap” of €66,000.
In Pillar II, the main change is a new scheme to replace the Green, Low-Carbon Agri-Environment Scheme (GLAS) . At present, this is being referred to in the CSP as the Agri-Environment Climate Measure (AECM).
The AECM will be modelled after the current Results-Based Environmental Agri Pilot (REAP).