Farming: Agreement reached on new Farmers’ Charter

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue TD, welcomed the agreement reached between his department and representatives of the main farming organisations, on a new Farmers’ Charter.

The Charter sets out the timelines for applications, payments, inspections and appeals. The new Charter will come into effect immediately on publication.

Welcoming the agreement, Minister McConalogue said: “I want to thank everyone involved on the successful conclusion of this agreement and to acknowledge the partnership between my department and the farming organisations in supporting farmers.

“I am keenly aware of the importance of the Farmers’ Charter and the targets set down within it. I recognise the importance of farm payments and I believe the ambitious targets set out in the new Charter are evidence of my department’s commitment to farmers.” Referring to farm payments under the new CAP Strategic Plan, the Minister said: “Last year was the first year of the new CAP and it was a significant undertaking for all involved.

“There was a lot of work for farmers, their advisors and my own department in administering new schemes in the first year. There were strong outcomes last year with a lot of good work done to ensure that a very high percentage of farmers were paid on the dates that were set out at the start of the year for scheme payments.

“Almost €1.8bn was paid to farmers across the country during the last quarter of 2023. At EU level, Ireland ranks amongst the most efficient Member States in getting payments to farmers expediently and in line with the legal requirements. I am confident that this will continue to be the case.

“The roll out of a new CAP is not without its challenges however and in particular there have been difficulties to overcome in the roll out of the new Acres scheme, which all are committed to ensuring are addressed for the second year of the scheme. I was glad to ensure places in the scheme were made available for all 55,000 farmers that applied in order to support farmers engaging in positive environmental action on their farms and some €230 million has issued to ACRES applicants to date, including through interim payments earlier this year.

“While there is an obligation on the Department to make recoupments in the cases of any overpayment arising from interim payments at the first opportunity, I have asked my department to engage positively with any farmer that contacts them and show flexibility in cases of financial hardship. Further details of how farmers can contact the Department to request this flexibility will be notified to farmers in the near future.

“I am fully committed to leading the Department in ensuring that payments to farmers under the various schemes are paid on the dates set out in the Charter and to the maximum number of farmers possible on the target dates.” Following agreement on the Farmers’ Charter, a Charter Monitoring Committee will be established to monitor agreed targets and standards. This Committee will be comprised of representatives of the farm organisations and staff of the Department.

The Minister has appointed Dr Seán Brady as the independent chairperson of the Charter Monitoring Committee. Dr Brady’s appointment was unanimously supported by all six farm organisations.

“I want to thank Dr Brady for taking on this role again and also for the exceptional leadership that he demonstrated when presiding over the monitoring committee of the previous charter. His expertise and knowledge are of huge benefit to all parties and I am grateful for his participation,” Minister McConalogue concluded.

The Irish Farmers Association (IFA), the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA), Macra na Feirme, Irish Cattle and Sheep Association (ICSA), Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA) and the Irish Co-operative Society (ICOS) participated in the negotiations on the Charter.

The Charter cannot grant rights which would affect or change the operation of EU or national law in so far as they apply to the schemes administered by the Department.