I do not agree at all with the Deputy's portrayal of the situation. The Government massively supports the family farm structure and family farmers. Over the past generation, we have seen a growing number of part-time farms. Farms may not be able to compete with the employment opportunities in the wider economy now, but the fact that those family farmers stay farming is a reflection of the considerable commitment they have to keeping farming enterprise as a part of their income and a reflection of the Government's c…

As the Deputy knows, we are the first Government ever to set up an agrifood regulator to ensure fair play for farmers in the marketplace. This is the first Government to have done that. It was a commitment I made to farmers and we have delivered. I do not think the Deputy understands the farming sector very well. The key piece of legislation of Aontú-----

-----is intended to set a price and allow for intervention. We export 90% of our food but the Deputy feels it is simply a matter of passing legislation to set what that price should be and all will be well with the world. That is the sort of fairytale he peddles. I grew up on a family farm, the income from which was our sole income. We milked our own cow every morning and grew our own vegetables, including potatoes. We killed a heifer and a sheep every year. The income and lifestyle we had growing up on our family …

It is not.

As the Deputy knows, last year I designated three new ports in County Donegal - Bunnagee, Glengad and Malin Head - as well as Dunmore East in County Waterford for landings from UK-registered Northern Ireland vessels. I also extended the opening hours in Greencastle. That brings the total number of ports designated for UK-registered Northern Ireland vessels to 11, seven of which are located in County Donegal. Irish-registered vessels are obviously permitted to land at Magheraroarty pier. However, there are no curren…

I will take the Deputy’s second point first. He talks a lot of hot air. He has no policy and no proposals. When he mentions young Muireann Kavanagh and the issue of the hook and line pollock fishery, the Deputy does not understand what he is talking about in terms of the wider policy environment. I have engaged with that young fisher lady - it is great to see her passion for it - but I have seen no proposals from the Deputy except that he is trying to exploit the situation. He and his party have come forward with n…

I always tell the truth. Deputy Doherty is not telling the truth about the response I gave young Muireann Kavanagh. I wrote her a handwritten letter-----

No, before that. Again, the Deputy is not telling the truth here. He might like to portray it otherwise, but he is not telling the truth. I wrote her a handwritten note explaining the situation. Unfortunately, on that issue, as on many other issues on fisheries, Deputy Doherty and his party are an empty vessel.

Deputy Doherty has come forward with nothing of substance. All he tries to do is exploit the situation and make it sound like he has something to offer when he has nothing to offer. I have seen no proposal from the Deputy on the hook and line fishery for pollock. He has done nothing other than try to exploit the situation. That is the reality we see from him on many issues. I explained the situation there. I explained that I designated 11 piers and seven of these are in Donegal. To have a UK-registered vessel, the …

The Deputy is an empty vessel. He is a bluffer.

The Deputy has nothing to offer but hot air. He is an empty vessel.

The proposed amending regulation presented by the Commission is focused on simplification to reduce the burden on farmers and to provide flexibility to member states to address issues affecting farmers arising from climatic conditions or other adverse weather events. While there are changes to the good agricultural and environmental conditions, GAECs, my Department, like all ministries across Europe, must apply these standards at an appropriate level for our own national situation to protect our natural resources, …

The Deputy does not seem to recognise the great work happening in farms here in Ireland. He should give proper recognition to the real commitment that family farms across this country are demonstrating to the environment and indeed to tackling the biodiversity challenge that we have, not just in this country but also in many other countries as well. In 2022 there was a reduction in emissions from Irish agriculture. I am confident that the figures for 2023 will also show a reduction in emissions. That is a reflectio…

Deputy Murphy likes to portray that. He peddles the story that somehow Irish agriculture is industrial and not the family farm as we portray it. That is totally false.

The reality has been-----

If the Deputy had been paying any attention to what I have been doing as Minister over the past five years-----

-----he would have seen I have delivered a CAP programme which has increased by 50% the funding we are giving to farms, and we are directing that particularly at smaller and medium-sized farms. For example, I have introduced front-loading of the payments that farmers get in respect of the first 32 ha. We are reallocating funding specifically to smaller and medium-sized farmers to encourage farmers to stay in farming. The Deputy has probably not picked this up either but I have also reduced the maximum payment that …

I thank Deputy Ó Murchú for raising this matter, which we have discussed on previous occasions. I have been working very closely with Senator Erin McGreehan on stepping this out, getting a full assessment of the impact of that particular weather event and stepping forward a response to it. As the Deputy knows, there was exceptionally heavy rainfall in October and November, with two back-to-back storms occurring between 18 October and 1 November. That later storm, on 30 and 31 October, saw high winds and unprecedent…

I thank Deputy Ó Murchú. It is something we have been monitoring closely. It has had a significant, very localised impact. Unlike the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Department of Social Protection, we have no shelf-ready scheme in instances where there might be particular damage to farms, which tend to be more robust and obviously not as impacted as towns and villages by events like those we saw earlier this year in some parts of the country. In this instance, I recognise the damage that was…

The report is being finalised and assessed and I hope to have further detail shortly. I thank the Deputy for raising the issue today.