2026-05-14

82. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide an update on negotiations in relation to the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, budget and the proposal to cut payments to farmers in receipt of the State pension and farmers with off-farm income. [35915/26]

I want to get an update on CAP negotiations in relation to the proposals from the Commission, which are very concerning for many farmers and people in the food industry. The Commission is talking about a major cut in the funding. We need to do everything to ensure that this does not happen for agriculture in Ireland and across the European Union. We also need to see a big push-back on the notion farmers receiving a pension, off-farm income or whatever else will suffer as a consequence of that. That would be totally inappropriate. I would like to get the Minister's views and an update on that.

I thank the Deputy for raising a really important point. When I reflect on the key things throughout my term in this position, different issues will come up to be dealt with from day to day but I have always been clear there are a number of big things I will ultimately be judged on. Last year, nitrates was the key headline figure that you could never take your eye off. Throughout that time, I was building relationships with colleagues across the AGRIFISH Council in preparation for our Presidency at a time when CAP reform will be coming. It was a key part of preparing for CAP as well. Generational renewal is in that mix too; it is central to everything we are doing and a key part of this CAP. In July 2025, the European Commission published its legislative proposals for the post-2027 CAP as a chapter of the proposed national and regional partnership plan framework. Negotiations on the CAP regulation are ongoing at EU level through Council working parties, the Special Committee on Agriculture, and the Agriculture and Fisheries Council of Ministers. I have been engaged actively throughout these negotiations and we are preparing for Ireland's role during our Presidency in the second half of 2026. We continue to carefully examine the Commission’s proposals relating to the future structure of direct payments and income supports, including the proposals on pensions. The proposals suggest that member states should exclude farmers in receipt of a pension from direct payments by 2032. This proposal has caused significant worry and concern among older farmers, understandably. I assure farmers that I share their concerns, and I, along with some other member state counterparts, have raised those concerns at the Council of Ministers. My focus in negotiations will be to ensure that Ireland retains sufficient flexibility to design a CAP programme that reflects the realities of Irish farming and supports family farms.

I appreciate that and understand that a great deal of work has to be done. Central to all this will be that period when Ireland holds the Presidency. We need to ensure CAP is properly funded. For many of these situations regarding off-farm income, whether a pension or whatever else, there needs to be a recognition that the vast majority of farmers need an off-farm income to make the farm viable. That is the reality of it. To suggest they would somehow be punished would mean they are punishing agriculture. They are doing the direct opposite of what the CAP is supposed to be about - enhancing the possibility of agriculture being prosperous, doing well and having a future. If they go down that road, it will be very difficult. We often come across farmers in our constituencies who are getting elderly. They come in and may be heading for 80 years of age but they have not applied for the pension yet because they prefer to farm. If they are punished from the point of view of CAP payments, it will be a very difficult situation to resolve.

I take those points of view on board. It is important to bear in mind and to explain to the public the process this goes through. There are three legs to the stool in terms of CAP and overall EU policy. The Commission puts forward the proposals around the CAP. The Council of agri ministers, of which I am a member and which I will chair when we have the Presidency from July to the end of the year, involves each of the 27 Ministers for agriculture and fisheries. In that AGRIFISH Council, we will agree our position, which will not be exactly the same and will be counter to some of the Commission's proposals. The Parliament is finalising its position with MEPs. When those three come together in trilogues next year, we will thrash this out. The Commission has proposed this measure around retirement. I have a different view and am building alliances with the other Ministers for agriculture that have a different view as well. It is the same with part-time farming. The approach to the active farmer proposed by the Commission is not one I agree with.

I appreciate that. We need to develop a strategy around generational renewal which recognises that the older farmer is part of the farm. The previous situations where farmers felt they had an exclusion order and could not go near the place any more if they went into any of these schemes is totally inappropriate. We need to find a way to do this in partnership so we have generational renewal to make farming more profitable and therefore bring more young people into it, while keeping the experience and the sense of being part of it among older farmers and the people who want to stay with it. In regard to the CAP, there are a number of things that arise. Simplification has to happen. There has to be an allocation of funds for active farmers. We have to see the restoration of the two pillars. One of the things many farmers are finding very difficulty to come to terms with is that the two pillars that served us so well for so long are being discarded. We need to look at that. However, the ring-fenced budget lies at the core of it. The budget we have in place for the CAP has to be maintained. In fact, it should really be extended.

The Deputy's points around generational renewal are very valid. We need to make sure that we have fairness and a balanced distribution of supports across the board. We want to learn from the mistakes of the past. The old retirement scheme was a mistake. It banished older experienced farmers from farms completely and replaced them with newer farmers. There needs to be a partnership approach. I know from my family circumstances at home down through the years that , the corporate knowledge the older farmer had was really important as was the value they had to bring to the farming enterprise. In regard to part-time farming, approximately 43% of farmers in Ireland are classified as part time. Part-time farmers are central to the structure and sustainability of Irish agriculture. No final decisions have been made on the future definition of "farmer" in the next CAP. We need to make sure that our approach involves fairness and balance and that any future model is workable in practice and will not disproportionately impact productive farms or undermine food production capacity and farm viability. At the heart of this, what I will be able to do is fight for maximum flexibility and for the maximum budget as well. If we do not have the latter, it will really curtail what we can do.