The Deputy is an expert at the spin and the criticism herself. She is not offering many solutions or anything constructive. As I said, I have been working with the Deputy's three Government colleagues in Wexford on an ongoing basis over recent weeks on this issue. It is good to engage with the Deputy this morning on it.

The Deputy majors in giving out and trying to show, through giving out, that maybe she might be doing something for someone.

That is her modus operandi , and she has her approach well off by heart. There is also-----

The Deputy might not like giving other people a chance. I know she likes to give out plenty and to hold the platform. In relation to tillage-----

If the Deputy wants to speak to herself, she can go off and shout on local radio. I am working to try to support the sector through a difficult year and to make sure it grows in the future and will continue to do so.

As the Deputy is aware, the targeted agriculture modernisation scheme, TAMS, 3 provides grants to farmers to build or improve a specified range of farm buildings and equipment on their holdings. There is an indicative budget of €370 million available for the period 2022 to 2027, whereby all investments are linked to climate, environment or animal welfare. Following the success of TAMS 2, I have increased significantly the number of investments available to in excess of 430 items. There is analysis taking place on t…

It will be concluded in time for the next opening and I will make a decision in advance of that. That is what I have requested. There is massive work going on in the Department. The comment the Deputy made at the end of her response was a rather flippant one. There are a record number of applications in at the moment for TAMS 3, which shows the appetite for on-farm investment. We are working through getting approvals for them. We have front-loaded the applications for work that needs to be done this autumn and wint…

I already laid out the position that it was and remains my intention in terms of tranche two. Both the trailing shoe and the dribble bar are very expensive pieces of equipment and are very long-term investments. They are significant investments from the State's point of view in relation to TAMS, and a significant investment from a farmer's point of view as well. It is important we take steps now that will stand the test of time because these machines will be around for a long time. Many dribble bars and trailing sh…

I thank the Deputy for raising this question, for his work on this matter over the last number of months, and his engagement on it. Farm safety is an absolute priority for my Department and is always given considerable thought in the design of schemes. The new TAMS is aligned to our climate goals with enhanced support for farmers to invest in renewable energy solutions on their farms. To encourage the purchase of solar investments, thereby reducing dependence on fossil energy by farmers, the TAMS solar scheme is ri…

I am not sure if we have such a list but I will inquire into that and facilitate a further engagement between Deputy Stanton and the Department on this matter. It is important that we do have the full oversight and view of the terms, conditions and safeguards regarding how this work is carried out. In my response I outlined the registration courses and the qualifications required. The Deputy made the point in terms of whether a list is being maintained similar to what is there with the SEAI and I will investigate t…

We have to make sure these jobs are done right. It is a very significant investment from a Government point of view of 60% grant aid. There is a separate grant ceiling as well from any other investment a farmer might make. It is a significant investment that is undertaken by the farmer also. We are talking about power generation and electricity and it is important that is done right because if it is not it can have serious consequences. With regard to the safeguards the Department has in place there are clear requi…

I thank Deputy Moynihan for raising this. I am aware there has been significant industry interest in the Deputy's constituency in the agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, and that the Deputy is keen to ensure that continues to be facilitated. As the Deputy will be aware, ACRES is the central agri-environmental measure in Ireland's Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, strategic plan.  We have allocated €1.5 billion to it over the scheme lifetime. This is the largest amount ever committed to an agri-environment …

Regarding the terms and conditions of the scheme, it was laid out very clearly at the start that when plans were submitted, it would not be possible to change them. The logistical challenge of having to administer 46,000 this year, as opposed to 30,000 that had been planned for, puts additional pressure on the system. This is a real challenge. Where it is possible to do things, they have been done but it is simply not possible to change people's plans and this was laid out very clearly at the start in terms of the …

Yes, it is. The Department is working hard to ensure we pay as many as possible. Previously GLAS would have been at full tilt. During the latter stages of the GLAS programme where farmers would have been following through in terms of years three, four and five, the maximum payment rate that was achieved in any one year involved 85% of GLAS participants because there are always some outstanding issues. If somebody had an issue with his or her basic income support for sustainability, it meant he or she could not be p…

My goal for budget 2024 is to support our farm and fishing families in every way possible.  The funding I negotiated and secured is in fact an increase in core funding year on year. It will support the sector’s environmental ambition and on-farm sustainability while at the same time supporting farmer incomes and providing vital infrastructure to support the development of our fishing sector and coastal communities. The 2024 Estimates provide a gross Vote of €1.942 billion for my Department. Despite the removal of B…

It is a total misrepresentation to represent the withdrawal of BAR funding as a cut to the agriculture budget. That was always one-off funding over a period of two years. The deadline for the expenditure of that funding is the end of this year. I have worked to ensure every possible avenue to draw down that funding for both the fishing and agriculture sectors was found and to deliver it for farming and fishing families but it was always going to end at the end of this year. There seems to have been an expectation t…

With regard to payments, this is the first year of a new CAP. All these schemes are new and have to be applied to for the first time. That includes what was the basic payments scheme, now the BISS. Back in March, I wrote to every single farmer to inform them of what the payment dates would be this year. All staff in the Department have been working hard to make sure those payment dates were met. This Tuesday past, 90% of farmers had their BISS payments issued to their bank accounts. Last Tuesday, they would have re…

Gender equality across all sectors, including agriculture, is a priority for the Government. I am very proud to have taken quantifiable steps to improve the visibility and representation of, and opportunities for, women in farming and agribusiness. I am very pleased that, for the first time, Ireland’s new CAP strategic plan includes a number of specific measures aimed at increasing the participation of women in farming. For example, there is an increased grant rate of 60% under the capital investment scheme, the ta…

Deputy Burke has put his finger on the outstanding challenge as regards the work we have to do in agriculture and farming to make sure the progress we have seen across many other areas of the agrifood sector is reflected at farm level and we start to see a higher proportion of women taking up the role of farm holder and farming within the farm gates. If you call a vet to your farm, it is now likely that a female vet will arrive because we have seen more women than men coming through veterinary colleges. There are n…

That is something we are looking at. We are trying to encourage partnerships. It is something we want to make real progress on. If the Deputy has any advice, our ears and our minds are very much open with regard to what steps we can take. The Women in Agriculture conference dialogue, which was led out by the former Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mary Coughlan, earlier this year, had the objective of bringing women from all aspects of farming together to look at these ideas. The Minister of State, Senator Hacket…