Public Consultation on draft Scoping Report for the Environmental Assessment of Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027-February 2021

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is currently developing Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan for the period 2023 -2027 (CSP). This work is based on the Commissions draft proposal for a Regulation establishing rules on support for strategic plans to be drawn up by Member States under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP Strategic Plans) and financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). The draft EU regulations are available on the Commission's website

As an important part of the development of the CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027, the Department has procured the services of RSM Ireland Limited to carry out a Strategic Environmental Assessment of the likely significant effects on the environment of implementing the Plan.

The environmental assessment will be carried out in accordance with EU Directive 2001/42/EC and the European Communities (Environmental Assessment of Certain Plans and Programmes) Regulations 2004 SI 435 of 2004

Prior to making a decision on the scope and level of detail of the information to be included in the environmental report, and in addition to consulting with the environmental authorities, a parallel wider non-statutory public consultation to encourage further participation by stakeholders and the public is being undertaken.

In accordance with the provisions of Article (11) of S.I. No. 435/2004 the report is required to include the information that may reasonably be required, taking into account;

• current knowledge and methods of assessment
• the contents and level of detail in the plan
• the stage of the plan in the decision-making process
• the extent to which certain matters are more appropriately assessed at different levels in the decision-making process in order to avoid duplication of the environmental assessment

The external consultants have now prepared the draft scoping report for the environmental assessment of the CAP Strategic Plan, a copy of which can be found here

We would welcome your views or observations in relation to the scope and level of detail to be included in the environmental report. We are happy to receive your written submissions as soon as possible, but no later than Tuesday the 13th of April.

The following questions may be of assistance when forming your opinion;

• Are there other plans or programmes that should be identified and reviewed as part of the Strategic Environmental Assessment process?
• Is there additional information that needs to be considered as part of the baseline data?
• Do you consider that the range of issues covered is appropriate?
• Are there any changes that in your consideration should be made a) to the proposed environmental objectives and b) to the guide questions including the consideration of alternatives?
• Do you have further suggestions regarding the scope of the Strategic Environmental Assessment and its proposed assessment of the CAP Strategic Plan?

Under Regulation 42(1) of the EC (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations, 2011 (as amended), an initial screening for Appropriate Assessment of the CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027 is required. Screening has been carried out by our external consultants and it has been concluded that the draft CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027 will be subject to a full Appropriate Assessment. A copy of the screening report is available here

Submissions may be sent by email to CAPStrategicPlan@agriculture.gov.ie, online using the following link consultation on draft scoping report or by post to the address below.

Please mark your submissions ‘draft scoping report’

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is collecting this data to inform the Strategic Environmental Assessment process as part of the development of the CAP Strategic Plan. All submissions, including the name of the person or organisation making the submission, will be shared with our external consultants who are conducting the Strategic Environmental Assessment and Appropriate Assessment on our behalf. All submissions, including the name of the person or organisation making the submission, will be published on the Department’s website however if you wish to make a submission but not be identified publicly this can be accommodated provided it is clearly indicated when the submission is made. When making a submission please indicate if you agree, or not, to your name being published on the Department's website. Should you wish to later withdraw this given consent then please email us at CAPStrategicPlan@agriculture.gov.ie.

All submissions and comments submitted to the Department for this purpose are subject to release under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2014 and the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007- 2014. Submissions are also subject to Data Protection legislation. Personal, confidential or commercially sensitive information should not be included in your submission and it will be presumed that all information contained in your submission is releasable under the Freedom of Information Act 2014.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is collecting this data to inform the Strategic Environmental Assessment process as part of the development of Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027. All submissions, including the name of the person or organisation making the submission, will be shared with our external consultants who are conducting the Strategic Environmental Assessment and Appropriate Assessment on our behalf. This data will be processed in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR EU 2016/679), the Data Protection Acts 1988-2018, the Freedom of Information Act 2014 and the DPER Consultation Principles and Guidance. Any additional personal data received as part of your submission will not be processed, shared, or retained and will be destroyed upon receipt. Publication to the Departments website of personal data associated with submissions will only take place where permission is received to do this.

Further information on Data Protection can be found here

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy and employs appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your information from unauthorised access. The Department will not process your personal data for any purpose other than that for which they were collected. Personal data may be exchanged with other Government Departments, local authorities, agencies under the aegis of the Department, or other public bodies, in certain circumstances where this is provided for by law.

The Department will only retain your personal data for as long as it is necessary for the purposes for which they were collected and subsequently processed. When the business need to retain this information has expired, it will be examined with a view to destroying the personal data as soon as possible, and in line with Department policy.