The Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (DAFM) is likely to increase its spending on consultancy services – partly because of the Food Vision Dairy Group – by 120% next year, latest estimates show.

The DAFM has allocated a total of €369,000 for “consultancy and value for money and policy reviews” next year, according to details set out in the department’s 2023 spending estimates.

This year the department allocated €168,000 for the services, but it has indicated its requirement to increase these services by an additional €201,000 next year.

The DAFM outlined to Agriland why the budget for these services could jump by 120% in 2023 compared to 2022 estimates. The department said:

“[The] increase in the consultancy funding relates to possible consultancy studies that may be required as part of the phased dis-establishment of fur farming in Ireland and the Food Vision Dairy Group implementation.”

According to the DAFM, the 2023 estimates provide an agreed gross funding package of €2.14 billion.

Estimates for Public Services 2023

“This is the highest ever level of funding for the department, and represents an increase of €283 million on the 2022 provision, or a 13% increase overall, to support farmers, fishers, and rural and coastal communities,” a department spokesperson added.

The department added that this funding “supports farm families dealing with the immediate and ongoing fallout of Brexit, the illegal invasion of the Ukraine”.

It said the funding also “lays the groundwork” for strategic supports for the sector over the next five years, through the new €10 billion Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Strategic Plan.

The latest funding projections for the DAFM in 2023 also detail the department’s “project expenditure” which includes food safety, animal health, animal welfare and farm sector support.

Source: Estimates for Public Services 2023

One of the biggest increases in the programme expenditure relates to a 62% jump in funds allocated to the seafood sector.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, previously said the €335 million budget allocation for the seafood sector and coastal communities was “the largest-ever annual budget provision for the sector”.