When Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027 was unveiled in October 2021 there was much fanfare from the Irish Government, with funding from 2021-2027 increasing by 30% compared to 2014-2020.

The €9.8bn fund for the period 2023-2027 included €5.97bn in Pillar I funding, which stems entirely from the EU budget, and €3.86bn in Pillar II funding, which is financed by the EU budget and national Exchequer funding.

The Pillar II funding of €3.86bn was highlighted as being the largest-ever level of co-financing at 60%, or €2.3bn of Irish Government spending.

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This was made possible by the allocation of €723m from Ireland’s carbon tax fund for a ‘flagship agri-environment measure’. Without this, the level of Ireland’s co-financing would have been in the region of 50%, some 3% higher than the previous spending.

There will now be pressure on Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon and his Department to fight for a larger guaranteed share of the EU budget because, without such a commitment, the Irish Government will need to dig even deeper in to the national pot to ensure agriculture and rural development is not in a worse off position. This is regardless of what support structure is used, with the current plans in Europe to abandon the long-lived Pillar I and Pillar II configuration.

Read more on this on page 8.