Ireland’s farmers are in line for a €9.5m share of a proposed €330m EU-wide distribution of farm crisis funds.

This round of proposed funding would represent a €7m drop in Ireland’s allocation of the EU farm crisis reserve in 2022 and only 2.9% of the overall funds remaining.

The allocation is lower, as member states along the EU's eastern flank are set to benefit from a large tranche of these funds to compensate them for the market impacts of Ukrainian grain.

EU agriculture commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski welcomed the moves being made to open up this €330m to member states’ farming sector on Monday.

Who funds should be 'mobilised' to

Commissioner Wojciechowski had previously indicated that funds should be mobilised to farmers dealing with high input costs or struggling with the impacts of bad weather, such as drought in the Mediterranean.

Spain would pull in the most of any member state in this proposed round of funds – over €80m – while Italy’s farmers could take €60m and France’s could take another €53m.

The Department was unable to respond to an Irish Farmers Journal query last week, which asked whether Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue looked for any EU crisis funds for Irish farmers.

It is not known which sectors or farm types will be targeted for the €9.5m in funds proposed for Ireland.