I thank Senators Murphy and Conway for their support of the Bill and for their generous words about our work in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and on behalf of farmers. I also recognise the collective support at all times in this House and the attention given by Senators, in particular the two Senators here but also many of their colleagues, in making sure issues around farming, agriculture, food and fisheries issues have been strongly aired. We have many opportunities to engage and discuss how …

I move: That the proposal that Dáil Éireann approves the following Regulations in draft: Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2024, copies of which were laid in draft form before Dáil Éireann on 3rd October, 2024, be referred to the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, in accordance with Standing Order 95(5), which, not later than 24th October, 2024, shall send a message to the Dáil in the manner prescribed in Standing Order 101, and Standing Order 100(2) shall accordingly apply.

I move amendment No. 1: In page 3, lines 9 to 11, to delete all words from and including “to” in line 9 down to and including “1997” in line 11 and substitute the following: “to amend the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1997 as regards the holding of office of Chairperson or member of the Aquaculture Licences Appeals Board”. I thank the Deputies for their engagement on Committee Stage. This amendment contains a proposal to introduce a minor amendment to the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1997. Amendment No. 2 provides for the…

I will deal with Deputy Fitzmaurice's point first. We discussed it at committee the last day and it is something the appeals board looks to accommodate, but there can be circumstances when the appeals officer who took the initial hearing takes ill or is out for a period. The choice is to await the return of the appeals officer or to restart the appeal. That is something that is considered. It is possible. It does not have to be dealt with in legislation but can be accommodated in whatever way is felt most appropria…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 15, to delete lines 6 and 7 and substitute the following: “16. Section 24 of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1997 is amended— (a) in subsection (1), by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (a): “(a) the Chairperson shall hold office for such period, not exceeding five years, as shall be specified by the Government when appointing the Chairperson, and may be re-appointed for a second or subsequent term of office, and”, and (b) by the deletion of subsection (3).”.

I thank Deputies and thank the team for putting the legislation together. I thank the director of the appeals office, Lynda O'Regan, along with Ruth Kinehan and David O'Loughlin, for their considerable work in bringing it through the five Stages in the Dáil. I look forward to going to the Seanad.

I welcome the opportunity to highlight key aspects of budget 2025 for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, introduced by myself along with the Ministers of State, Senator Hackett and Deputy Heydon. My goal for budget 2025 was to support farm incomes as well as the continued development of the agrifood industry, by building on the significant supports put in place over the lifetime of this Government. With those objectives in mind, a total of €2.112 billion has been allocated to my Department for the …

I move: (1) THAT for the purposes of the taxes charged by virtue of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 (No. 1 of 2003), that Act be amended in the definition of “group threshold” in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 2 to that Act - (a) in subparagraph (a), by the substitution of “€400,000” for “€335,000”, (b) in subparagraph (b), by the substitution of “€40,000” for “€32,500”, and (c) in subparagraph (c), by the substitution of “€20,000” for “€16,250”. (2) THAT paragraph (1) of this Resolution shal…

I thank the Deputies for the response and the contributions to the debate. This is a positive step forward and obviously will affect many ordinary, normal people. The threshold is now increasing for a child inheriting from a parent, from what would have €335,000 to €400,000. There are lots of very ordinary people, whether it be a farm, a home or a dwelling house, where they would be inheriting that from a parent, and, indeed, where a parent, having worked very hard all of his or her life would like to help provide …

-----to be able to do so as well without passing on a burden of tax for the child who is coming after them. Indeed, in several instances, where someone may be inheriting a family home, for example, they may not be in a strong position to be able to pay the type of tax which would be befalling them afterwards and may not be in the position to continue living there either. That can happen many normal people despite what some Deputies might say here today. This is a positive step forward. It rewards hard work. It rewa…

I thank Deputy Kenny very much. I wish him well and congratulate him on being appointed as Opposition spokesperson on agriculture, food and the marine. I look forward to working with him. We both worked on the same side of the House previously. He has extensive experience and an understanding of the sector. I acknowledge the significant contribution made by Deputy Kerrane as Opposition spokesperson during her time. I wish her well also in her new spokesperson role. I thank Deputy Kenny for his question on ACRES. It…

Everybody is working towards the objective of achieving 95% of balancing payments being paid by the end of this month.

I know what it is like to have delayed payments and to wait for payments to arrive because I grew up on a family farm where our income was based on the activity relating to the farm. That is why I have given such attention to making sure there are no issues with payments. Farmers had certainty last year as to what the dates would be. We gave the dates last March and we adhered to all of them. There were very high payment percentages on those dates. The one exception was ACRES. Understanding the importance of paymen…

In terms of those who have applied for NPIs, we expect them to be approved by the end of this year, so that farmers can do the work next year. The scheme has reopened for new NPIs. We expect those to be processed in a timely fashion now that the scheme is up and running.

That is one of the challenges of a results-based scheme. I want to give farmers as much certainty as I possibly can in terms of the schemes I put in place. For example, with the suckler and calf schemes, I gave farmers a very clear task to carry out in order to get paid, whether it be weighing, clipping or dipping. We give as much certainty as we can. The environmental scheme must be results based under the new CAP and therefore it is dependent on scores. Like the farmer, I do not know what the score might be. Ther…

The score relates to the first year.

As much as possible, I want it to be a positive experience. I am assessing the situation. I am open to all ideas as to how we can make sure ACRES works to the best extent possible for everyone.

I thank Deputy Kenny for raising this matter. It is something that a number of people have raised with me over the past couple of weeks. Unfortunately, and for very good reason, it is not something I intend or am in a position to do. Our collective priority has to be in terms of making sure that we improve water quality and, in particular, that we retain our nitrates derogation. The latter is dependent on good water quality. The closed period is in place for good scientific reasons. Slurry is spread at a time of ye…

It is always the case. There should be exceptional circumstances, and they would have to engage and explain those circumstances from an animal welfare point of view. There is a long slurry-spreading season from early spring until 1 October. The use of chemical fertilisers finishes in mid-September. As I say, grass does not grow in mid- or late October and November in the same the way it does in April, May or June. As for nutrients, if they are applied, it is not the time to be spreading either fertiliser or manure …

It is animal welfare considerations that we are talking about at this stage. Every year, from the start of the year onwards, there is a time to spread slurry and, as much as possible, to use it between grazing intervals as well. Certainly, nobody should have full tanks. Especially in the context of the year that is in it, nobody should have full tanks at this point. If they do, they need to seriously examine what happened and how they got to this stage, because there have been opportunities for that not to be the c…