Agriculture minister announces €5m fund for National Reserve

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed, has announced the allocation of funding for the 2017 National Reserve. 

Following recent consultation between the Department and the Direct Payments Advisory Committee, comprising members of the main farming bodies and agricultural advisory and education providers, it has been decided that a linear cut to the value of all Basic Payment Scheme entitlements will provide funding of just over €5 million to the National Reserve in 2017. This amount is equivalent to the amount of unspent funds under the Young Farmers Scheme in 2015 which was added to the Basic Payment Scheme financial ceiling.

Minister Creed said: “The National Reserve is a vital resource for providing support to young farmers and new entrants to farming in the crucial years following establishment of the farm holding”.

The EU Regulations underpinning the operation of the National Reserve provide for priority access to the mandatory categories of ‘Young Farmer’ and ‘New Entrant to Farming’. Successful applicants to the National Reserve receive an allocation of entitlements at National Average value or a top-up to the National Average value on entitlements that are below the national average.

In addition the Minister announced that the 2017 Young Farmers Scheme will also be available to provide an additional payment to any person who qualifies as a ‘young farmer’.

The Minister concluded: “The 2015 National Reserve proved to be a huge success in facilitating the entry of over 6,000 young, well educated persons into the farming community. The National Reserve and the Young Farmers Scheme, together with the value of associated Greening payments, provided for an allocation of Pillar 1 payments in excess of €52 million in 2015. The 2017 National Reserve will build on this progress in helping to provide a solid basis for the future of the agriculture Industry in Ireland”.

As the National Reserve fund for 2017 is a very scarce resource the scheme will be targeted specifically at educated young farmers and new entrants to farming who fulfil specific objective criteria. The National Reserve on-line application form together with full terms and conditions will be available when the scheme opens for applications in March 2017.

Macra na Feirme has welcomed and is delighted with the announcement from Agriculture Minister Michael Creed today that the National Reserve will re-open in 2017. This will come as great news to young farmers who want to progress their farming careers. It is a very positive signal from the government on the value it places on the development of young farmers and their futures.
Seán Finan, Macra na Feirme National President said: “The re-opening of the National Reserve in 2017 is something that Macra na Feirme has actively campaigned on, for an extended period of time. We have lobbied at political and farm organisation levels to seek support and ensure there is a National Reserve in 2017. In Macra na Feirme, we are taking full credit for delivering the opening of the 2017 National Reserve for young farmers and new entrants.”

Sean Finan continued, 'On behalf of young farmers, we in Macra na Feirme would like to thank Agriculture Minister Michael Creed, his officials, and some of the farm organisations who supported our proposals for a 2017 National Reserve. The re-opening of a 2017 National Reserve is another example of the very positive and valuable work that Macra na Feirme does in representing and lobbying on behalf of young farmers. As the only voice of young farmers in the country, Macra na Feirme has always been very clear that we have to move away from the stop-start nature of young farmer schemes and this announcement is a very positive development in that regard for young farmers.'