The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) is currently working out how to best spend over €9.5 million in funding from the EU.
Last Friday (July 14), the EU Commission approved a support package worth €330 million for 22 EU member states to help farmers impacted by adverse climate events, high input costs and market and trade-related issues.
Ireland will be among the member states to benefit from this exceptional support from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
All member states will have to notify the commission of how the funds are to be allocated.
DAFM
The commission said that payments under the support package should be made to farmers by December 31, 2023.
It appears that the Irish allocation of over €9.5 million could be used for a new scheme, however no details of such a measure have been confirmed.
“The department is actively considering how best to utilise the available funding in conjunction with the European Commission. Scheme details will be announced in due course,” a DAFM spokesperson told Agriland.
The commission said that countries may complement this EU support up to 200% with national funds.
DAFM did not confirm if it is considering topping up the EU funding.
Funding
Janusz Wojciechowski, the European Commissioner for Agriculture, said that the €330 million support package comes as farmers continue to face numerous challenges.
“EU farmers are still facing input costs above long-term average and some agricultural commodity prices continue to decline.
“On top of this, EU farmers faced diverse and difficult weather conditions in spring, leading to reduced yield projections and quality for several agricultural commodities,” he said on Twitter.
“At the same time, there are some early signs of improvements. For example, fertilisers have become more affordable following the drop in natural gas prices.
“Furthermore, while still above the general inflation rate, EU food inflation is starting to stabilise,” the commissioner added.