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Direct payments to Irish farmers would reduce by €6.6m if a Basic Payment Scheme cap of €100,000 is introduced.
At present, 200 direct payment recipients across 21 counties are above this threshold.
The capping of direct payments is being considered by the EU as part of the next CAP reform and the implications of this for Ireland were examined by the Parliamentary Budget Office.
A cap would mean an average reduction of €33,000 for each farmer over the €100,000 mark, but exposure varies widely by county.
The report also highlights the fact that there have been no clear proposals as to how the money saved by capping payments will be utilised.
It says it is unknown whether savings would be redistributed to how small- and medium-sized farmers or if it would simply be cut from the budget.
Counties
Meath with 28 and Cork with 27 have the largest number of beneficiaries over the mark. A payment cap of €100,000 would see CAP payments reduced by over €1m in both counties.
Wexford (€670,000), Tipperary (€575,000) and Kilkenny (€470,000) would be the next counties most at risk from the proposal. In contrast, Clare, Longford, Monaghan, Roscommon and Sligo have no beneficiaries above the capping level.
On a regional basis, the southern region would lose €3.58m, while the east and midlands would lose €2.6m. Western and northern regions would lose significantly less money, approximately €471,000.
These savings are in keeping with the regional dependence on direct payments. In the west and north, direct payments account for 103% of income. In the east and midlands this drops to 83% and drops further again in the south to 65%.
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