The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has revealed the beneficiaries of payments under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in 2020.
We’ve already outlined the beneficiaries of the highest direct payments. But this is just one of the measures under which CAP funds are paid out.
If we take into account all payments and measures to determine the beneficiaries of the highest overall funding through CAP in 2020, we see that Teagasc and Bord Bia feature highly on that list.
In fact, Teagasc comes out on top of the pile, with total CAP funding received in 2020 of €7,849,196, over €3 million more than then next-highest beneficiary.
Of this funding received by Teagasc, all of it was paid on the ‘Knowledge Transfer and Information Actions’ measure.
The next-highest beneficiary after Teagasc was the Hen Harrier Project Ltd., the group which manages the scheme of the same name. It received €4,592,936, all of which was paid under the measure of ‘Cooperation’.
The third-highest beneficiary was the Commercial Mushrooms Producers Co-op – based in Co. Monaghan – which received €4,359,693. This funding in its entirety was paid under the measure of ‘Aid to Producer Organisations’.
Bord Bia was the fourth-highest beneficiary, receiving €4,026,072. This funding was split across two measures: €2,391,786 for food promotion; and €1,634,285 for the School Fruit, Vegetable and Milk Scheme, an EU scheme managed and overseen in Ireland by Bord Bia.
After Bord Bia, local community development committees (LCDCs) feature highly on the list of beneficiaries. The remainder of the top 10 beneficiaries all fit into this category.
The fifth to 10th highest beneficiaries are (in that order): Tipperary LCDC (€2,765,736); Mayo LCDC (€2,692,178); Kerry LCDC (€2,489,578); Donegal LCDC (€2,183,412); Westmeath LCDC (€2,075,975); and Limerick LCDC (€2,003,526).
All of these payments were made under the ‘Leader Quality of life and Diversification’ measure.
If we look at the top 50 beneficiaries, these include most of the remaining LCDCs, as well as some other notable groups and entities.
These include: the National Dairy Council (€1,153,076); the Pearl Mussel Project (€1,076,424); Irish Rural Link Co-operative Society (€538,858); IT Tralee (€348,793); Animal Health Ireland Initiative (€335,718); Birdwatch Ireland (€271,642); and the Heritage Council (€266,606).