Total support of €59m is available for funding of European Innovation Partnerships (EIP) operational groups to implement innovative projects that contribute to rural development priorities. It is expected to open in November this year.

This includes the €35m available for the hen harrier and pearl mussel locally led agri-environmental schemes.

The EIP is a European Union initiative that links farming with science. It involves the co-operation of farmers, scientists, advisers and NGOs.

"The initiative we are launching here today is very much in line with this [European Innovation Partnerships] thinking and will make available an EAFRD co-funded amount of €59m for pilot projects, which I believe will, in time, feed into the twin objectives of economic growth and sustainability in our rural areas," Minister Creed said. "This is in addition to the budget of €15m for the Burren Programme, bringing to €74m the firm commitment to collaborative actions under the Rural Development Programme (RDP)."

Rural Development Programme

“We are using the RDP as a vehicle to implement this funding from the EU,” said Fintan O’Brien from the Department of Agriculture. “It is different to traditional ag schemes. These have six key steps; finding an issue, a solution, bring the actors together, create a plan, action the plan and disseminate your findings to other groups and member states.”

This is a new scheme designed to enhance farm viability, promote food chain organisation, restore and preserve ecosystems and promote resource efficiency.

Applying for access to EIP will involve a process of two rounds. The first round will involve an initial proposal call for applications where groups will submit an application and projects will be short-listed. The second round will involve submitting an operational group project plan, receiving approval and implementing a more detailed project plan.

Reaction

While farmers in attendance welcomed the new funding of €59m being made available, there was concern that very little of this would actually filter down to farm level.

“We have watched our margin be eroded over the last 50 years. All I want to say here today is that unless people have a standard of living, all this will go out the door,” Gerald Quain of the ICMSA said, referring to the dominance of retailers in the food chain.

One farmer made the point that the designation of land has devalued farms and a scheme like this is not going to address that.

“There’s no getting away from this designation, it has hurt farmers in that area,” said Fintan O’Brien. “The Department is not designing a compensation scheme, we are trying to create something that responds positively to this and give something back to farmers. We have GLAS, which is doing things in a top down way, this is an opportunity to see if a bottom up approach could work better. We are hopefully empowering farmers to take decisions for projects on their own land.”

IFA rural development chair Joe Brady said it is important that the schemes are put together without delay. Payment must be meaningful and should involve support for management actions that the farmer understands.

"If there's not a meaningful payment farmers aren't going to buy into it and it's not going to be a success," IFA hill committee chair Pat Dunne said. But the Department's response was that the farmers have to take ownership of these projects themselves as they are different to GLAS where a payment per hectare can be decided

"We are going to be giving an envelope of money across to farmers to decide what the best use for the money is in those areas," O'Brien said.

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