There is a 1% inspection check on this. That is why it is important that everybody is managing themselves well and doing the right thing in not applying any more fertiliser to the soil than is needed. Of course, that saves money. In the event of a farmer being in the 1% that gets inspected, there is the prospect of a potential penalty. The penalties are small for small infringements by anybody in the 1% who get checked. However, it is really important that everyone works together to make sure there is a full unders…

I thank Deputy Ó Murchú for raising this issue. As he knows, I am very much aware of the impact on agriculture of adverse weather during the winter of last year. I have taken action in a number of ways to support farmers, including direct supports for unharvested crops and other measures introduced through the national fodder and food security committee. I particularly recognise the localised impact of storms on the Cooley Peninsula in October and November 2023. From 18 October to 2 November, Ireland was subjected …

I have asked my Department to look at having the capacity to respond in a prompt manner when intervention is needed. It has been a long time since this happened before. The Inishowen floods in my own area in 2017 was the last time there was a need for an intervention such as this. I recognise that this is not on the same scale but on a localised basis it has been quite acute for the affected farmers. It was brought to my attention by Senator Erin McGreehan, as well as by the Deputy. I am now glad to progress this w…

It has been closely modelled on the previous time we did this during the Inishowen situation. I will not go into the finer detail of the scheme here today. Let me just say there will be engagement over the next few weeks in terms of having farmers apply for the scheme and actioning it. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter.

The solar capital investment scheme under TAMS 3 is the main support provided by my Department for farmers wishing to invest in renewable energy. I launched this scheme in February 2023 and it is proving to be a hugely attractive scheme for farmers. It is closely aligned to our climate and sustainability needs through continued and enhanced support for renewable energy.  To help encourage on-farm renewable technology uptake and usage, grant aid is provided through TAMS to assist farmers in maximising their contribu…

There is great potential in this area and there is great appetite among farmers as well. The scheme that is in place is really suitable for them to be able to meet their own needs and those of their farm. It can include the dwelling house as well. Battery storage is also grant aided at the rate of 60%. This means that farmers can store energy and be able to use it when needed. There is also the capacity for farmers to contribute more broadly through a feed-in tariff whereby there is investment outside of TAMS 3. Th…

Over the past couple of weeks we published the anaerobic digestion or biomethane strategy. This lays out how we can produce 10% of all of our annual gas requirements by 2030 from farms, with grass in particular being very much at the centre of this. I was glad to attend a conference yesterday in Croke Park, organised by the Renewable Gas Forum Ireland, RGFI, with some 350 people from the industry involved. There was a really good energy there and there is an appetite to step forward and realise the potential for an…

I thank the Deputy for the question. We had a three-hour session here yesterday discussing this very topic. Over the past several weeks, we have all been very conscious of how challenging spring has been for farmers in all sectors, including dry stock, dairy, and tillage farmers. The Government has been very conscious of this and has worked to respond to farmers as challenges have emerged. Thankfully, in the past week we have seen the weather lift and there has been much activity. Animals are being let out onto the…

I have given the commitment to secure and deliver the funding. Although I have not yet received the funds, it was really important, given the pressure the sector was under, to provide clarity on what support would be forthcoming from the Government. I have been engaging on an ongoing basis this very long spring with all farm representative organisations, and also those in the tillage sector. I was very aware of the growing pressure on the sector and the need for intervention in advance of the planting to give confi…

As stated in reply to the previous question, this has been a really challenging spring. We have worked to support the farming community through it with the fodder transport measure. Teagasc has been working at local level to provide support to farmers to ensure they can get supplies where they were running short. The fodder support measure was a really important one last year. It was crucial in ensuring we had sufficient fodder supplies in the country this year to deal with the unprecedentedly long winter. In many …

This Government has been very responsive and supported farmers in times of need and in the medium to long term, by means of significant investment. The CAP, which will run up to 2027, offers 50% higher funding. That is a record increase in Government funding. Over the past two or three years, where sectors have been under pressure, be it the pig sector, the horticulture sector or the tillage sector last autumn and this spring, we have worked to support them. One of those supports was to the livestock sector last ye…

We are working to provide support. That is our track record. The Deputy is correct about pillar 1 payments at European level. The CAP budget at European level has been static from the previous CAP to this one. We are one of the 27 member states which is constantly pushing to maintain and increase it but of course 27 member states have to agree to the decision, so it has been static. That means it has eroded in real terms. CAP is co-funded, so we also bring funding to the table as a national Government. We have show…

Over the past five years, my Department's business needs have grown significantly. In 2018, its workforce totalled 3,336 staff. The Department has increased its staffing numbers considerably since then in order to ensure that we meet our commitment to deliver a quality service to all in the agricultural community and to all other citizens who depend on my Department for overseeing food production and standards. The total number of employees at the end of 2022 was 3,922. This figure rose throughout 2023, culminating…

No. At the end of last year, it was 4,007. The current number is up ten on that, although it is similar. Our payroll budget is just over €250 million per year. This finances our salary and allowance costs for the full year of 2024. While my Department has not issued an embargo on staffing, as is borne out by the numbers employed and the figures on which I have given the Deputy, we are obliged to manage our resourcing within budgetary constraints. The Department remains committed to continuing to do this throughout …

Local authorities play a role in providing services to some small abattoirs. Generally, there can be challenges with the availability of vets in various parts of the country, but my Department is committed to ensuring that this service is properly resourced and companies are facilitated as necessary and to working with local authorities, which have a role in respect of small abattoirs. In the past five years, the Department’s staffing levels have increased by 700. Today, we are at a record number. However, we must …

I certainly will take an interest in that. It is something I am very committed to because I want to see our small abattoirs being supported. I know we have seen a significant change in the landscape over the past decade or two in relation to the number of abattoirs in the country. There has been significant consolidation, but I want to ensure the services that small abattoirs need are provided to them. For most of the small abattoirs, veterinary services are supplied through the local authority vets. My Department,…

I thank Deputy Kerrane. As she knows, I have committed to supporting the group known as the forgotten farmers. I have made a clear commitment to them that I will deliver support to reflect the impact their missing out on certain payments had on their farming enterprises. This is a group of farmers whose members were under 40 in 2015 when the situation first came to light. At that point, they had already been actively farming for more than five years, meaning they were ineligible to access the national reserve in th…

It is a legacy issue that goes back to 2015 and I am committed to addressing it. Obviously, a key focus in the past year has been getting the current CAP programme up and running, making sure the schemes are running smoothly and putting the systems and structures in place for that. That has been a big area of emphasis and priority within the Department. All these farmers, as well as all other farmers, very much depend on the current CAP for their family farm income. The continuing work on ACRES and the delivery of …

I have very clearly committed to delivering a solution and outcome for these farmers. A number of considerations are being fully explored, for example, state aid considerations, the capacity to deliver it, and how it could be delivered within state aid constraints. There is also the budgetary aspect of it as well as the building out of the IT system which would be needed to identify all the farmers accurately and to deliver the final scheme. That work is ongoing and it will take a number of months to work through t…

My Department monitors the information on farms and the wider agrifood sector. We do that in collaboration with Teagasc and the Central Statistics Office, and that is ongoing at all times. The number of farms in Ireland is recorded every ten years in the CSO census of agriculture, most recently in 2010 and 2020. In addition, the CSO undertakes farm structure surveys periodically between censuses. Those happened in 2013 and 2016. The total number of farms recorded in the 2010 census of agriculture in Ireland was 139…