The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has proposed to withdraw the clawback on entitlements for the remainder of the current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

This means that those who sell entitlements without land until the end of 2027 would continue to see the full amount transferred to the purchaser.

The proposal will require an amendment to Ireland's CAP Strategic Plan (CSP).

The department has confirmed to Agriland that it is currently awaiting approval from the EU for the proposed amendment.

"Notification will issue as soon as clarification is available," a DAFM spokesperson said.

Clawback

Ireland's CAP Strategic Plan currently states that the sale of entitlements without land would be subject to a clawback of 20% in 2026 and 2027.

This means that 20% of the number of entitlements sold without land, with the product of the clawback relinquished to the National Reserve.

To be considered as a sale of entitlements with land, one hectare of land must be sold per entitlement and the clawback would only apply to the portion of entitlements not supported by land.

The clawback on entitlements was lifted for 2023, 2024 and 2025.

The department previously noted that during these years Ireland observed "above-average permanent transfers of entitlements to active farmers, indicating that the absence of the clawback mechanism motivated entitlement mobility".

Entitlements

The department has also confirmed to Agriland that it approved the transfer of 32,358 entitlements in 2025.

Of that total, 2,778 entitlements were sold, compared to 4,403 in the previous year.

The department approved applications for the lease of over 26,000 entitlements in 2025, up from 24,800 in 2024.

The current figure for the number of entitlements surrendered to the National Reserve in 2025 is 9,040.

This is as a result of non-usage of these entitlements in the 2024 and 2025 scheme years.

"Usage cases are still being worked through and it is not possible to establish if the unprocessed cases will result in entitlements being surrendered to the National Reserve or not.

"Therefore it is only possible to provide a figure of the current number of entitlements which have been surrendered," a DAFM spokesperson said.

The department noted that these are snapshot figures and they may be subject to change.

DAFM

The department confirmed that, as usual, those entitlements leased out will revert to the transferor at the end of the term of the lease.

"The effective date for the reversion of the lease is December 31 so for one year leases taken out for 2025 and any longer term leases ending on or prior to the May 15, 2026, entitlements shall revert to the owner of the entitlements from the end of the 2025 scheme year," the spokesperson added.