The Irish Farmers' Association - IFA

Lobbying Organisation The Irish Farmers' Association - IFA

Date published 21 Jan, 2022

Relevant Matter Public policy or programme

Public Policy Area Agriculture

Period 1 Sep, 2021 to 31 Dec, 2021

Specific Details IFA's Response to the CAP Funding Proposals 2023 – 2027.

Intended results To highlight that the combined effect of eco schemes, internal convergence and complementary income support for sustainability (CRISS) will devastate the income of a significant cohort of farmers. Pillar 1 Changes That the proposed new €1.5bn Agri Environment Scheme within Pillar 2 of the next CAP programme, as announced by the Government last week, means that Ireland will now have one of the highest environmental ambitions in the EU under Pillar 2, if not the highest. Under To highlight that Ireland's level of environmental spending in Pillar 2 gives the Minister the capacity to substantially reduce the cut in every farmer's Basic Payment to fund the eco schemes to well below the 25% the Minister for Agriculture is currently proposing. That Government make eco schemes more accessible. Whatever the % cut for the new eco schemes, the list of qualifying measures must be extended to make them more accessible for all farmers. The current list of 5 proposed measures is wholly inadequate and does not offer practical or feasible options for more productive farmers. That all farmers must have an opportunity to participate in the eco schemes without a significant level of additional cost or reduced productivity and that their eco scheme payments reflect their higher level of production. Pillar 2 Changes Additional funding for targeted payments to vulnerable sectors The Minister must mitigate this impact by reducing the cut to Pillar 1 payments for eco schemes and by providing additional funding to Pillar 2 for the most vulnerable sectors. This funding needs to deliver as follows • Increased funding commitment to suckler cows. The Minister must firstly make an extra provision in the budget allocation to provide for his recent commitment, that all suckler cows who are applied for, will be eligible for payment in the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Programme. This must also be accompanied by a further increased budget allocation to bring the payment to €300/suckler cow. The future funding of BEEP-S, the suckler sector is currently facing a 35% cut in funding. • Additional funding to the Sheep Improvement Scheme is also a priority. The proposed current funding structure will see only €12/head paid on 1.7m ewes, less than the number of ewes on the current Sheep Welfare Scheme. This leaves almost 1m ewes out of the proposed new sheep scheme. The scheme requires a budget to deliver €30/ewe to all ewes in the country. • The Tillage sector is also facing severe impacts from Pillar 1 re-allocations. The sector needs more funding than the €50m proposed under the Straw Incorporation Measure to try to mitigate the worst impacts of the proposed CAP reforms to the sector • The Minister ignored IFA's calls for a €100/animal payment for cattle rearing and finishing farmers in Pillar 2 schemes. These farmers are the severely impacted in the current proposals. The final National Strategic Plan must include a scheme that delivers €100/animal payment for farmers who rear and finish cattle. A farmer friendly environment scheme The proposed Agri Environment scheme will not pay €10,000 per farmer and it only caters for a maximum of 50,000 farmers, which is wholly inadequate. To highlight that To honour the Programme for Government commitment of a REPS-type scheme, the Minister must ensure the budget is adequate to provide meaningful payments to farmers. The scheme must be open to all farmers who wish to participate, be farmer friendly and be an extra source of net income for farmers. Double counting of Carbon Tax funds Carbon Tax funding of €723m has been included in the national co-financing element of the next CAP programme which is contrary to the commitment in the Programme for Government Our Shared Future which states ‘Allocate €1.5 billion to a REPS-2 programme to encourage and incentivise farmers to farm in a greener and more sustainable way. This funding will be additional to funding from the Common Agricultural Policy'. Therefore, the Government inclusion of carbon tax in Pillar 2 is effectively double counting. The Government must invest more general exchequer funding to increase the proposed payments for the vulnerable sectors and support farmers with on-farm Climate Actions. CRISS (Complimentary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability) - The CAP Reform agreement finalised at EU level compels Member States to carry out a 10% redistribution of Pillar 1 payments in the form of an annual decoupled payment. However, Member States are offered flexibility to reduce the level of CRISS if other forms of eligible redistribution are implemented. The Minister's decision to cap payments at €66,000 brings this flexibility into play. Conditionality of schemes - That the above detail relates only to the additional funding requirements needed for Pillar 2. To welcome the funding the Department of Expenditure has allocated to farming, but there are a number of issues that we have with the current proposal • The new CAP will result in a serious hit to some farmers' basic payment. This will impact in October 2023 and will severely affect a cohort of our most productive farmers. • Notwithstanding the increase in the National Exchequer co-financing for the next CAP period 2023 – 2027, the Government has decided to allocate €256m of funding to organic farming. While we fully respect the Government's decision to increase the funding to organic farmers, who are also our members, it has left other schemes with a shortfall. We, therefore, need more funding in Pillar 2 to address this. • The allocation for the Sheep Improvement Scheme at €20m is actually €5m less than the annual amount originally allocated to the Sheep Welfare Scheme, part of the current CAP programme. • The tillage sector is going to be severely hit due to Convergence, CRISS and Eco Schemes. More funding is needed to keep farmers in this sector. • The new environment scheme (AECM ) appears to be very complicated and expensive for farmers to participate in. There is a real concern that a lot of funding allocated to this scheme will not get to farmers. To ask that the Minister for Expenditure takes on board the points above and provide additional funding to address the concerns set out. To gain more information on the proposed new measures under ECO Schemes applicable to tillage farmers. To influence policy around Pillar I and Pillar II Schemes in CAP 2023 - 2027

Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity Tim Cullinan IFA President, Damian McDonald IFA Director General, Liam MacHale IFA European Director,

Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?) No

Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign? No

Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client? No

Mass communications

Letter All Oireachtas Members

Letter All Senators

Letter All TDs

Meeting All TDs

Lobbying activity

The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.

Email (11-20)

Letter (2-5)

Meeting (11-20)

Social Media (2-5)

Phone call (11-20)

Event / Reception (1)

Virtual Meeting (1)

Designated public officials lobbied

The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them. As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.

Charlie McConalogue Minister (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)

Holly Cairns TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

David Norris Senator (Seanad)

Violet Anne Wynne TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Willie O'Dea TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Catherine Martin TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Malcolm Byrne Senator (Seanad)

Cathal Berry TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Brendan Howlin TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Pippa Hackett Super Junior Minister (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)

Gerard Craughwell Senator (Seanad)

Kieran O'Donnell TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Mary Butler TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Patrick O'Donovan TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Brian Leddin TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Niall Collins TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Paul Kehoe TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Bernard Durkan TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Colm Markey MEP (European Parliament)

Fiona O'Loughlin Senator (Seanad)

Eamon Ryan Minister (Department of Transport)

Cathal Berry TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Steven Matthews TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

John Brady TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Stephen Donnelly Minister (Department of Health)

Simon Harris Minister (Department of Further and Higher Education, Innovation and Science)

James Browne TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Malcolm Noonan Minister of State (Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage)

John McGuinness TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

John Paul Phelan TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Mary Butler Minister of State (Department of Health)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Fiona O'Loughlin Senator (Seanad)

Martin Heydon Minister of State (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)

James Lawless TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

John Brady TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Jennifer Whitmore TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Verona Murphy TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Mark Wall Councillor (Kildare County Council)

Patricia Ryan TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Steven Matthews TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Paul Kehoe TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Jackie Cahill TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Garrett Ahern Senator (Seanad)

Matt Carthy TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Martin Browne TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Willie O'Dea TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Seán Canney TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Anne Rabbitte TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Éamon Ó Cuív TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Mairéad Farrell TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Seán Kyne Senator (Seanad)

Hildegarde Naughton TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Barry Cowen TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Bernard Durkan TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Seán Canney TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Pippa Hackett Super Junior Minister (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)

Verona Murphy TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Seán Fleming TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Dara Calleary TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Michael Ring TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Rose Conway-Walsh TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Alan Dillon TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Lisa Chambers Senator (Seanad)

Paddy Burke Senator (Seanad)

Ciaran Cannon TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Seán Canney TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Ollie Crowe Senator (Seanad)

Seán Kyne Senator (Seanad)

Noel Grealish TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Mairéad Farrell TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Hildegarde Naughton TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Catherine Connolly TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Éamon Ó Cuív TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Aisling Dolan Senator (Seanad)

Eugene Murphy Senator (Seanad)

Michael Fitzmaurice TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Claire Kerrane TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Denis Naughten TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Peter Keaveney Councillor (Galway County Council)

Michael Connolly Councillor (Galway County Council)

Chris MacManus MEP (European Parliament)

Christy Burke Councillor (Dublin City Council)

Darragh O'Brien Minister (Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage)

Norma Foley TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Helen McEntee Minister (Department of Justice and Equality)

Damien English TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Heather Humphreys TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Fergus O'Dowd TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Colm Markey MEP (European Parliament)

Anne Rabbitte TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Billy Kelleher MEP (European Parliament)

Fiona O'Loughlin TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Regina Doherty Senator (Seanad)

Michael Collins TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Joe Flaherty TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Michael Ring TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Tim Lombard Senator (Seanad)

Victor Boyhan Senator (Seanad)

Lynn Boylan Senator (Seanad)

Paul Daly Senator (Seanad)

Denis O'Donovan Senator (Seanad)

Frank Feighan TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Regina Doherty TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Michael McGrath Minister (Department of Public Expenditure and Reform)

Denis Naughten TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Frank Feighan Minister of State (Department of Health)

Marc MacSharry TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Eugene Murphy Senator (Seanad)

Michael Fitzmaurice TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Aisling Dolan Senator (Seanad)

Claire Kerrane TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Micheál Carrigy Senator (Seanad)

Joe Flaherty TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Michael McGrath Minister (Department of Public Expenditure and Reform)

Brendan Griffin TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Marian Harkin TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Martin Kenny TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Barry Cassidy Special Adviser (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)

Paul Savage Assistant Secretary (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)

Norma Foley TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Brendan Griffin TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Pa Daly TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Michael Healy-Rae TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Danny Healy-Rae TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Patrick Donohoe Special Adviser (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)

Brendan Gleeson Secretary General (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)