On 27 June 2020, a coalition Government was formed between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party, following 147 days of vote counting and inter-party talks.
Since the 1 February election of that year, Ireland had fallen into the grip of COVID-19, and was in lockdown.
On 30 June, the Programme for Government agreed between the coalition partners was published. How much of that programme has been achieved? Has the Government lived up to its commitments to farm families? Let’s take a deep dive.
On 1 June 2020, the front-page headline on the Irish Farmers Journal was “New REPS scheme on the cards”. It outlined how it was being proposed that a proportion of the carbon tax would be ringfenced for an agri-environmental scheme, whose working title in some circles was understood to be “REPS nua”.
REPS nua eventually was revealed to be the Agri-Climate Rural Environmental Scheme (ACRES). Has it been a success? In terms of farmer buy-in, yes. Over 46,000 farmers entered the scheme in 2022, almost filling the 50,000 allocation initially envisaged.
Last year, a further 9,000 farmers applied for the remaining 4,000 places. In the end, all were accepted. It means the €1.5bn of Government funding pledged to the scheme may need topping up.
However, this week we reveal that over 1,600 farmers have withdrawn from the scheme. That’s only 3%, but there are thousands more still in the scheme still waiting for balancing payments or are awaiting information on non-productive investments.
The move to clawback interim payments under the scheme is proving deeply unpopular.
Those farmers are within the co-operation version of ACRES.
Within the general scheme, there have been criticisms from drystock farmers that the menu of options does not offer ways to build a significant payment on many farms.
Verdict
REPS nua it isn’t, as REPS left money in hand, whereas ACRES, in many cases, is payment for income foregone or costs incurred. Such is the nature of these schemes under EU laws these days. But the delays in clarifying the position of entrants mean ACRES, the flagship scheme in the Programme for Government, is no more than a qualified success. “Farm families and food businesses are the heartbeat of rural Ireland”, the Programme for Government read, stating the CAP to be negotiated in 2021 would be “critically important in the next decade of farming”.
The first target, that of maintaining the level of funding in CAP was achieved.
To go into the full detail of all the stated aims would require a long article in itself, but I’ll offer a brief review, acknowledging that some decisions were taken in Brussels rather than Dublin.
The organic sector was given over €250m
The commitment to lower-carbon farming and environmental sustainability was backed by ACRES, eco schemes and TAMS.
The organic sector was given over €250m, with many predicting in 2021 that this money would be unused and should be diverted.
It now seems that it won’t be enough to meet demand.
However, much of organic produce is being sold in conventional markets, with a further Government commitment to “utilise CAP funding and the expertise of State agencies to develop more profitable routes to market” needing more urgent delivery.
The Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) has been attained for grass-fed Irish beef, but is it too general to be effective? Young farmers received recognition, as promised. Women farmers were also rightly recognised.
Verdict
While the 2023-2027 CAP has taken money from farmers on higher payments, convergence (paymentflattening) was an inevitability. Overall, the CAP is bedding in as we reach payment dates for year two. With 10% front-loading (CRISS), the one major decision taken by Minister Charlie McConalogue, it is a qualified success for this Government.The Programme for Government stated: “We are committed to an average 7% per annum reduction in overall greenhouse gas emissions from 2021 to 2030 (a 51% reduction over the decade) and to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
“The 2050 target will be set in law by the Climate Action Bill. Every sector will contribute to meeting this target by implementing policy changes, as outlined throughout this Programme for Government.
The Climate Action Plan was delivered in October 2021
“The special economic and social role of agriculture and the distinct characteristics of biogenic methane, as described by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, will be fully recognised in plans to achieve these targets
The Climate Action Plan was delivered in October 2021, with sectoral targets given “landing-zone” ranges that were tightened to specific targets a year later.
Lowest sectoral target
Agriculture received the lowest sectoral target, of 25%. This could be argued as recognition of the special economic and social role of agriculture, and of biogenic methane’s place within a nitrates cycle.
However, the other sectoral target that will directly affect farming – land use, land use change and forestry – has still not been given a sectoral target as we close in on the end of this Government’s tenure.
Recent update
The most recent update, last December, said that the 2018 baseline had been reassessed to be 31% higher than originally calculated. This makes the maths of sectoral target attainment by farming, the dominant land use in Ireland, extremely challenging.
ACRES, covered above, is the Government’s big commitment to agriculture.
While agriculture has at least a partial roadmap in the MACC, other sectors are hopelessly behind schedule in terms of structured plans or concrete achievements.
The commitment to build a comprehensive biomethane anaerobic digester network is still at the planning stage.
It could have taken slurry from farms and offered a new income stream for farmers supplying feedstock, but it’s all just hot air so far. As regards electric vehicles, the rural charging network has improved significantly.
Verdict
The Climate Action Plan is long on aspiration, but delivery has been lacking in many sectors. Farming emissions are reducing over the last two years, but is a higher sectoral target likely to be necessary to achieve the mandatory 51% reduction in emissions?Separate to the EU-imposed Nitrates Directive, which governs the nitrates derogation, the Programme for Government committed to improving drinking water quality and wastewater management.
This included a pledge to “expand programmes, including the Agriculture Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme (ASSAP), and work with farmers, industry, and advisory services, to protect and deliver improvements in water quality”.
Furthermore, there was a commitment to “launch a new revised and strengthened River Basin Management Plan in 2022”.
The ASSAP now covers 190 identified priority catchments.
Teagasc advisers are working with farmers to deliver practical improvements, but are the 20 dedicated Teagasc advisers and 10 dairy co-op advisers enough?
Last week’s report on wastewater management found that while there has been a decrease in discharges, Uisce Éireann has much work to do for these treatment plants to comply with the standards set out for them.
Verdict
The programmes are delivering results and if Uisce Éireann can get €1bn in this year’s budget, more investment in ASSAP can help our waterways, and help retain the nitrates derogation.While Minister of State Pippa Hackett can claim credit for the high uptake of the Organic Farming Scheme, the forestry sector has continued to be a stone in the Government’s shoe.
Ash dieback, replanting obligations and planning chaos have undermined farmer confidence in planting.
Verdict
The Government claims to have largely resolved forestry’s issues, but it may take a decade to rebuild buy-in from farmers and it remains way off its 8,000ha/annum planting target.While not delving into the detailed plans outlined for every major farming sector, it is clear that the Government has tried to deliver on the commitments it made back in June 2020.
The record of success has been mixed There’s certainly no shortage of priority issues for the next Government to tackle.
On 27 June 2020, a coalition Government was formed between Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party, following 147 days of vote counting and inter-party talks.
Since the 1 February election of that year, Ireland had fallen into the grip of COVID-19, and was in lockdown.
On 30 June, the Programme for Government agreed between the coalition partners was published. How much of that programme has been achieved? Has the Government lived up to its commitments to farm families? Let’s take a deep dive.
On 1 June 2020, the front-page headline on the Irish Farmers Journal was “New REPS scheme on the cards”. It outlined how it was being proposed that a proportion of the carbon tax would be ringfenced for an agri-environmental scheme, whose working title in some circles was understood to be “REPS nua”.
REPS nua eventually was revealed to be the Agri-Climate Rural Environmental Scheme (ACRES). Has it been a success? In terms of farmer buy-in, yes. Over 46,000 farmers entered the scheme in 2022, almost filling the 50,000 allocation initially envisaged.
Last year, a further 9,000 farmers applied for the remaining 4,000 places. In the end, all were accepted. It means the €1.5bn of Government funding pledged to the scheme may need topping up.
However, this week we reveal that over 1,600 farmers have withdrawn from the scheme. That’s only 3%, but there are thousands more still in the scheme still waiting for balancing payments or are awaiting information on non-productive investments.
The move to clawback interim payments under the scheme is proving deeply unpopular.
Those farmers are within the co-operation version of ACRES.
Within the general scheme, there have been criticisms from drystock farmers that the menu of options does not offer ways to build a significant payment on many farms.
Verdict
REPS nua it isn’t, as REPS left money in hand, whereas ACRES, in many cases, is payment for income foregone or costs incurred. Such is the nature of these schemes under EU laws these days. But the delays in clarifying the position of entrants mean ACRES, the flagship scheme in the Programme for Government, is no more than a qualified success. “Farm families and food businesses are the heartbeat of rural Ireland”, the Programme for Government read, stating the CAP to be negotiated in 2021 would be “critically important in the next decade of farming”.
The first target, that of maintaining the level of funding in CAP was achieved.
To go into the full detail of all the stated aims would require a long article in itself, but I’ll offer a brief review, acknowledging that some decisions were taken in Brussels rather than Dublin.
The organic sector was given over €250m
The commitment to lower-carbon farming and environmental sustainability was backed by ACRES, eco schemes and TAMS.
The organic sector was given over €250m, with many predicting in 2021 that this money would be unused and should be diverted.
It now seems that it won’t be enough to meet demand.
However, much of organic produce is being sold in conventional markets, with a further Government commitment to “utilise CAP funding and the expertise of State agencies to develop more profitable routes to market” needing more urgent delivery.
The Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) has been attained for grass-fed Irish beef, but is it too general to be effective? Young farmers received recognition, as promised. Women farmers were also rightly recognised.
Verdict
While the 2023-2027 CAP has taken money from farmers on higher payments, convergence (paymentflattening) was an inevitability. Overall, the CAP is bedding in as we reach payment dates for year two. With 10% front-loading (CRISS), the one major decision taken by Minister Charlie McConalogue, it is a qualified success for this Government.The Programme for Government stated: “We are committed to an average 7% per annum reduction in overall greenhouse gas emissions from 2021 to 2030 (a 51% reduction over the decade) and to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
“The 2050 target will be set in law by the Climate Action Bill. Every sector will contribute to meeting this target by implementing policy changes, as outlined throughout this Programme for Government.
The Climate Action Plan was delivered in October 2021
“The special economic and social role of agriculture and the distinct characteristics of biogenic methane, as described by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, will be fully recognised in plans to achieve these targets
The Climate Action Plan was delivered in October 2021, with sectoral targets given “landing-zone” ranges that were tightened to specific targets a year later.
Lowest sectoral target
Agriculture received the lowest sectoral target, of 25%. This could be argued as recognition of the special economic and social role of agriculture, and of biogenic methane’s place within a nitrates cycle.
However, the other sectoral target that will directly affect farming – land use, land use change and forestry – has still not been given a sectoral target as we close in on the end of this Government’s tenure.
Recent update
The most recent update, last December, said that the 2018 baseline had been reassessed to be 31% higher than originally calculated. This makes the maths of sectoral target attainment by farming, the dominant land use in Ireland, extremely challenging.
ACRES, covered above, is the Government’s big commitment to agriculture.
While agriculture has at least a partial roadmap in the MACC, other sectors are hopelessly behind schedule in terms of structured plans or concrete achievements.
The commitment to build a comprehensive biomethane anaerobic digester network is still at the planning stage.
It could have taken slurry from farms and offered a new income stream for farmers supplying feedstock, but it’s all just hot air so far. As regards electric vehicles, the rural charging network has improved significantly.
Verdict
The Climate Action Plan is long on aspiration, but delivery has been lacking in many sectors. Farming emissions are reducing over the last two years, but is a higher sectoral target likely to be necessary to achieve the mandatory 51% reduction in emissions?Separate to the EU-imposed Nitrates Directive, which governs the nitrates derogation, the Programme for Government committed to improving drinking water quality and wastewater management.
This included a pledge to “expand programmes, including the Agriculture Sustainability Support and Advisory Programme (ASSAP), and work with farmers, industry, and advisory services, to protect and deliver improvements in water quality”.
Furthermore, there was a commitment to “launch a new revised and strengthened River Basin Management Plan in 2022”.
The ASSAP now covers 190 identified priority catchments.
Teagasc advisers are working with farmers to deliver practical improvements, but are the 20 dedicated Teagasc advisers and 10 dairy co-op advisers enough?
Last week’s report on wastewater management found that while there has been a decrease in discharges, Uisce Éireann has much work to do for these treatment plants to comply with the standards set out for them.
Verdict
The programmes are delivering results and if Uisce Éireann can get €1bn in this year’s budget, more investment in ASSAP can help our waterways, and help retain the nitrates derogation.While Minister of State Pippa Hackett can claim credit for the high uptake of the Organic Farming Scheme, the forestry sector has continued to be a stone in the Government’s shoe.
Ash dieback, replanting obligations and planning chaos have undermined farmer confidence in planting.
Verdict
The Government claims to have largely resolved forestry’s issues, but it may take a decade to rebuild buy-in from farmers and it remains way off its 8,000ha/annum planting target.While not delving into the detailed plans outlined for every major farming sector, it is clear that the Government has tried to deliver on the commitments it made back in June 2020.
The record of success has been mixed There’s certainly no shortage of priority issues for the next Government to tackle.
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