Some 200 responses submitted by farmers, members of the public and interest groups on payment redistribution measures floated for the post-2027 CAP revealed an almost even split between those in favour and those against the plans to impose a €100,000 limit on farm income supports.

Over three quarters of those who took part in the consultation were farmers, with 21% declaring themselves to be non-farmers.

The feedback saw 40% of respondents to the Department of Agriculture’s recent public consultation opposed to a €100,000 cap on payments, 35% supported the idea and 24% stated that they are still unsure of their position.

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The current CAP sets a limit on the maximum that can be drawn down through the Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) of €66,000.

This limit is imposed by fully cutting any BISS funds above €100,000 that would have been due to any individual beneficiary before and reducing by 85% any portion of a BISS payment that exceeded €60,000.

However, this capping is applied at individual herd level in the case of multi-herd partnerships, which meant that there were seven beneficiaries in 2024 – the latest year for which figures are available – that received BISS payments in excess of €100,000.

The post-2027 CAP proposals would also limit per hectare payments to a maximum average of €240/ha across all beneficiaries.

This indicates that the number receiving over €100,000 in the scheme that is to replace BISS would likely be even lower than seven – it appears that more farmers told the consultation that they reject the limit than would benefit from its exclusion in the next CAP.

Degressivity

The consultation has also uncovered “stronger opposition to degressivity,” with ‘degressivity’ being the new mechanism the European Commission has proposed to implement to reduce farm income support payments over €20,000.

The Commission wants to cut any income support payment that had been due a farmer within a €75,000-€100,000 window by three-quarters, those between €50,000 and €75,000 by half and any funds due from €20,000 to €50,000 by 25%.

Some 44% of those who responded to the consultation voiced opposition to this aspect of the CAP proposals and just 28% backed it.

Almost two-thirds of respondents opposed the Commission plan to stop CAP income supports for farmers in receipt of a State pension by 2032.

A deeper analysis of the responses submitted is underway in the Department and the results are to inform the position Ireland takes in negotiations to draw up the set of CAP rules that will apply after 2027.