Two new Conditionality standards for BISS 2025

There are two new Conditionality standards for 2025 that farmers need to be aware of while making their BISS applications:

1. Social Conditionality

2. GAEC 2: the Protection of Wetland and Peatland

These standards apply to farmers and beneficiaries in receipt of CAP funding and will be part of the controls and penalties for conditionality from 2025 onwards. These are the final two standards to be introduced in the CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has consulted with the key stakeholders, including the CAP Strategic Plan Monitoring Committee, to develop these new Conditionality standards.

Social Conditionality means that an additional conditionality penalty may be applied to farmers that are found to be in breach of certain legislation relating to workplace safety, employment standards, or the safe operation of machinery in the workplace. This standard will not involve any additional checks by the Department, but will be facilitated by cross-reporting from the Workplace Relations Commission and the Health and Safety Authority of Ireland. For farmers, there are no new requirements. Existing national rules on health and safety or employment law will continue to apply, as normal. Any beneficiary of CAP funding that is found to be non-compliant with these national rules and convicted under the relevant Directives will now be cross-reported to the Department and may be subject to an additional Conditionality penalty. Ireland has a very high level of compliance with these Directives, and it is anticipated that the number of cross-reported cases will be very low.

GAEC 2 is a baseline minimum requirement to protect carbon rich soils. In Ireland, our grass-based system already provides considerable protection for such soils and they are also protected by existing national planning provisions, for example on drainage. Therefore, the introduction of this standard is expected to have minimal impact on farmers day to day operations. In practice, it is only at the point that a farmer wishes to carry out drainage, reseeding of grassland or deep ploughing that the farmer needs to check if the land parcel in question is a GAEC 2 parcel.

Under the standard, farmers can maintain and repair existing drains. New drainage is also possible provided it respects existing national legislation for drainage on peatlands and wetlands.

In practice, a farmer who wishes to carry out new drainage needs to consult with the mapping system on AgFood to check if the Land Parcel area involved is a GAEC 2 parcel. If so, then the relevant national provisions must be followed, for example seeking planning permission.

The other elements included in the standard are normal agricultural practices in the Irish context, such as ploughing (deep ploughing beyond 30cm is not allowed), reseeding of grassland (1 year in 4 if possible and is in line with current practice).

The GAEC 2 standard is subject to approval by the European Commission. Once approved, the Department will be writing to all affected farmers to inform them of which parcels are in scope of GAEC 2 requirements.

The Department will manage an appeals process by which farmers can raise an appeal if they believe their parcel is not a GAEC 2 parcel, as identified on the AgFood system. A system of appeals will also be available for Social Conditionality.

ENDS

The detailed on-farm requirements for GAEC 2 are as follows:

(i) New drainage or reclamation in GAEC 2 land parcels is not permitted as a general rule. Deepening of existing drains or extension of the drained area beyond what previously existed is considered new drainage in this context. However, to ensure the agricultural area can remain active*, drainage may take place subject to national planning provisions***.

(ii) Maintenance and repair of existing drains is allowed**.

(iii) Deep ploughing (greater than 30cm depth), for grassland or arable crops is not permitted.

(iv) Shallow ploughing (up to 30cm depth) may take place annually for arable crops, but for grassland rejuvenation of permanent grassland, ploughing must not take place more frequently than once in every 4 years.

** To ensure that on the land concerned an agricultural activity suitable for qualifying the land as agricultural area may be maintained, as per the footnote (1) relating to GAEC 2 in Annex III of Regulation 2115/2021.

*** Planning provisions in accordance with the Planning and Development Regulations 2001 to 2023, as amended.