The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has identified Ireland's main priorities for the post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) negotiations.

The agri-food sector remains the country's most important indigenous industry, employing over 169,000 people and supporting €19 billion worth of exports.

Following the Programme for Government commitments, Ireland has four key priorities for the next CAP:

A CAP that is more straightforward for farmers - providing straightforward measures farmers can understand and implement; allowing member states more freedom to better target measures to their own circumstances; continuity of measures which are working well;
A more flexible and responsive CAP - flexibility to respond to new and emerging approaches and to explore new funding streams which should be additional and complementary to CAP;
An appropriate balance between all elements of sustainability – economic, environmental and social;
An adequate budget for an effective CAP which retains the full toolbox of current measures under Pillar 1 and Pillar 2, and which has a dedicated and sufficient budget.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon noted that Ireland’s current CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027 (CSP) has a budget of €9.8 billion, including €2.28 billion in national funds, over five years.

“Experiences over the last few years, from the Covid-19 pandemic to the war in Ukraine, to the current trade tensions with the US, have underlined the vital importance of this sector.

“Food supply chains have proved resilient, but we should not take our food, or the people who produce it, for granted. And CAP is crucial to the sector’s resilience and competitiveness," he said.

Minister Heydon said that the future of farm supports will be shaped by two major policy proposals to be published later this year.

The first will be the publication of the EU budget, known as the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) which will be followed by the publication of proposals for a new CAP post-2027.

The Irish presidency of the EU in the second half of 2026 is likely to be crucial in progressing the legislative framework for the next CAP.

"If we are to protect the CAP, it is vital that we position agriculture and food as a major strategic priority for the European Union.

“My department will commence comprehensive stakeholder engagement on the CAP post-2027 in the autumn," the minister said.