2.7 Direct Payments to Farms

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was created over sixty years ago in 1962 by the six founding countries of the European Communities and is the longest-serving EU policy. Its aim is to:

provide affordable, safe and high-quality food for EU citizens, M

ensure a fair standard of living for farmers and M

preserve natural resources and respect the environment. M

It is a dynamic policy which, through successive reforms, has adapted to new challenges faced by European agriculture. The EU has created and implemented the CAP to meet challenges such as:

providing food security for all European citizens M

addressing global market fluctuations and price volatility M

maintaining thriving rural areas across the EU M

using natural resources in a more sustainable manner M

contributing to climate change mitigation. M

The CAP is a common policy for all EU countries. It is managed and funded at European level from the resources of the EU’s budget. Further details of the current CAP can be found in chapter seven.

The EU provide €7.53 billion over the five year period of the current CAP, 2023 – 2027. Additional funding of €2.3 billion is provided by the national exchequer, providing total funding of €9.83 billion for the current CAP, or almost €1.97 billion each year.

Additional supports are provided in exceptional circumstances such as in 2022 when funding of €20 million for the pig and horticulture sectors was distributed. €15.8 million of this was funded from the EU’s exceptional support package to support the farmers most impacted by the crisis following the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine.

During the calendar year 2022, Irish farmers received around €2.02 billion in direct payments. The largest payment was the basic farm payment or BPS, which accounts for around €810 million. Most farmers are eligible to receive this, along with greening, which pays out around €370 million. ANC (Areas of Natural Constraint) payments were almost €247 million and GLAS (Green Low-Carbon, Agri-environment Scheme) payments were close to €179 million. Other schemes include BDGP (Beef Data and Genomics Programme, BEEP (Beef Environmental Efficiency Programme) and the SWS (Sheep Welfare Scheme), which combined paid out close to €84 million in 2022. The RBEAPP (Results-Based Environment Agri Pilot Project) scheme had payments of over €14 million, while organics payments were over €12 million. Other payments, such as forestry payments and TAMS (Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme) amounted to over €140 million.

In 2022 exceptional payments were made to the pig and horticulture sectors of €20 million and the 2022 Fodder Support Scheme made payments of over €83 million.

€500

Figure 2.18 Direct Payments Per Hectare by Farm System 2022 Included in National Farm Survey

€450

€400

€350

€300

€300

€250

€200

€150

€100

€0

Dairying Sheep All systems

Tillage Cattle other Cattle rearing

Source: Teagasc, National Farm Survey – Preliminary results 2022

Table 2.5 Distribution of Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) & Greening Payments to Farmers by County,

County Recipients per county Total payments Average Payment per county per county € Million €000
CARLOW	1,829	€24.65	€13.48
CAVAN	4,701	€33.75	€7.18
CLARE	5,986	€46.39	€7.75
CORK	12,938	€150.42	€11.63
DONEGAL	8,392	€60.28	€7.18
DUBLIN	822	€11.14	€13.55
GALWAY	11,925	€86.66	€7.27
KERRY	7,641	€69.88	€9.14
KILDARE	2,167	€30.28	€13.97
KILKENNY	3,257	€47.06	€14.45
LAOIS	2,596	€31.88	€12.28
LEITRIM	3,511	€22.47	€6.40
LIMERICK	5,012	€48.83	€9.74
LONGFORD	2,429	€19.09	€7.86
LOUTH	1,536	€18.25	€11.88
MAYO	11,080	€72.70	€6.56
MEATH	3,617	€46.85	€12.95
MONAGHAN	3,847	€26.19	€6.81
OFFALY	2,733	€29.84	€10.92
ROSCOMMON	5,363	€37.62	€7.02
SLIGO	3,898	€25.64	€6.58
TIPPERARY	6,929	€90.66	€13.08
WATERFORD	2,272	€34.60	€15.23
WESTMEATH	3,236	€32.63	€10.08
WEXFORD	4,218	€56.14	€13.31
WICKLOW	2,042	€26.49	€12.97
Total	123,977	€1,180.39	€9.52

Source: DAFM

Basic Payment Scheme During 2022, around 124,000 farmers received a BPS and/or a Greening payment. The payments issued in 2022 generally relate to applications made in 2022, but some payments may relate to earlier years. Also, deductions may have been applied in 2022 for earlier years if the applications were not fully compliant with the relevant regulations.

The average payment nationwide is just over €9,500, but there is significant variation on a county-to-county basis. Farmers in Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo, Monaghan all received on average less than €7,000. In contrast, an average payment in Waterford, Kilkenny, Kildare, Dublin, Carlow, Wexford and Tipperary is greater than €13,000 per farmer, with payments per farm in Wicklow and Meath very close to the €13,000.

Figure from page 57