I move amendment No. 2: To delete all the words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "expresses its deepest concern at the continued deterioration of the situation in Gaza and the resulting catastrophic humanitarian disaster with over 24,000 dead, thousands missing, 1.9 million people displaced, and massive destruction of housing and vital infrastructure, including education facilities; deeply deplores the major food insecurity on a massive scale, with United Nations (UN) agencies warning of imminent …

It was 30,000 houses in total.

I am aware of the concerns among some farmers about the recent changes to the ICBF beef index, particularly farmers participating in the SCEP. I have been closely monitoring the impact of the changes on SCEP farmers. I remain confident that the amended indices will improve beef farm profitability and also beef farm sustainability, which is the overarching intention of the SCEP. The background to this among farmers is that the ICBF, which is the body approved in Ireland in accordance with relevant EU legislation to …

I welcome the engagement with the agriculture committee on this issue and the discussion in respect of it. I am sure the ICBF will welcome and consider any proposals or suggestions arising from that. It is set up with a board, which includes very strong farmer representation, and is considering the matter. The aspect I am considering is the impact on the SCEP scheme in the context of the data and scientific evidence showing an alteration to star ratings. As I stated, 84% of animals that were deemed to be 4-star or …

There is ongoing engagement between my team and the ICBF in respect of the changes it is making and, in particular, any impacts on SCEP. It is up to the ICBF and the board, on which all the farm organisations are represented, to do their businesses, deal with the data coming in and make the changes and adjustments they are making. As regards the SCEP programme, I have paused any impact relating to the payments for 4-star or 5-star cows that drop. If a cow was 5-star and drops to 3-star, the farmer will not be penal…

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I have received many queries in the ten days since, unfortunately, we had to announce we would not be able to pay the farmers we had been working hard to pay in December. ACRES has been a great success, with significant uptake. It is working well in terms of getting farmers to participate in it. It is on course to make significant and expected payments to farmers. There was massive uptake of the scheme. We expected 30,000 farmers to apply this year but 46,000 applied. For …

I examined whether there was some way that could be done. However, the ACRES payment is a blend. It comes within the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, scheme and is co-funded nationally and with European money. We have to have an audit trail as to how we make those payments. Some 18,000 farmers will receive an 85% payment this month. Two thirds of the farmers in the general scheme will get their 85% advance. I wanted to be able to do it for everyone, but that is not possible. The team is working to …

First, we did make it clear immediately whenever it was clear that it could not be done and that we had run out of road. That was approximately a week and a half ago. Up to that point, we were working on the basis of trying to move heaven and earth to see if we could get both the co-operation and general scheme paid by the end of this year. Then, we made clear and outlined what was going to be possible and where we were despite everyone's best efforts. The Deputy is right. My decision to accept all 46,000 put massi…

If I had only stuck with 30,000, there would be 16,000 farmers who would not get a payment anytime this year and would not get it in February either.

Every effort has been made, and I will continue to keep the pressure on. All of the team are working massively hard to deliver on this-----

-----in order to ensure that farmers get paid as quickly as possible for the great enthusiasm they have shown, and then next year to make sure it happens. It will be in the second year of the scheme. It will be up and running-----

----- and operating in a much smoother way. We will make sure the payments are made within the calendar year.

This is an important issue to fishermen in north Donegal, particularly those in Greencastle who fish for haddock off the Rockall bank. It is a really important fishing ground for them. It is an issue the Deputy and I have discussed on a number of occasions. As I have explained before, Rockall has always been within the 200-mile zone of UK waters. It was never within the 200-mile zone of Irish waters. We had frank discussions on that before when I called the Deputy up on comments he made that might have indicated th…

Obviously, I have to be measured in what I say because there are diplomatic efforts under way to try to resolve this issue. The newspaper coverage to which the Deputy referred will show there are genuine efforts being made by the Irish Government to try to find a way forward on this. We want to try to resolve this. It is really important for Greencastle fishermen in particular, but also in terms of the squid fishery for fishermen from many different parts of the country. It is particularly challenging from the poin…

We are working to try to take every step possible. I am aware how important it is to both Greencastle fishermen regarding haddock and access within the 12-mile zone and to fishermen in the squid fishery. As I have said to the Deputy, the 2013 agreement has no bearing whatsoever on the status of Rockall. I stated earlier to the Deputy what the 2013 agreement did. I think he accepts this. Rockall has always been within the 200-mile zone of British waters. What we contest is that they should have a 12-mile exclusion z…

As then Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Smith put in massive investment through the then TAMS which made a very substantial difference on farms. I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and for his continued pressing for this scheme and the successor scheme over recent months. TAMS 3 provides grants to farmers to build and-or improve a specified range of farm buildings and equipment on their holdings. I have significantly increased the number of items that can be claimed for under TAMS 3 compar…

I thank Deputy Smith. To follow on from what I was saying earlier, 100% of the 8,000 plus applications that applied in tranche 1 were approved. Anybody who applied was eligible for the grant. Yesterday, I made a decision on tranche 2. It has been open since the start of July. Anybody can apply between July and now. Up to a few days ago, we had almost 3,000 applications. I wanted to make sure we could close that tranche in a way that they could start to be processed because I want those who have applied for that who…

The point Deputy Smith makes about terrain is a fair one and it has been made to me. Under the outgoing TAMS scheme up to the end of last year, for a dribble bar for low-emission slurry spreading or for the trailing shoe one, the grant aid was 40%. The trailing shoe machine is more expensive than the dribble bar and it is also bigger, but some of the research that came through to me was that the emissions reductions and the efficiency of the trailing shoe was much better than the dribble bar. That is why we have no…

I thank Deputy Farrell for raising this matter. I can confirm that Teagasc has submitted a preliminary proposal to my Department to establish a centre for sustainable animal and grassland research at Moorepark in Fermoy. The new centre will replace the existing, out-of-date grassland laboratory and metabolism house facilities in Moorepark. Teagasc developed this proposal with the objective of facilitating research that can provide innovative solutions to improve the environmental sustainability of our very good pas…

I thank the Deputy for those comments. This is an exciting new development. That new centre for sustainable animal and grassland research will be an important project in reaching 25% emissions reductions by 2030. With the challenges facing the dairy industry in the form of emissions, the centre will help Teagasc to expand its research capacity in grass physiology, animal physiology, animal nutrition and animal health. That will make a real impact in the years ahead. It will also help the agriculture sector in adapt…