I will deal first with the dairy farmers and then I will deal with the dry stock or livestock farmers who do not make hay or silage themselves. With regard to dairy farmers, my core objective for the scheme was to ensure that, as a country, we produced enough fodder to ensure we are fodder and food secure this autumn, winter and spring, and that every farmer would be supported in the making of hay or silage. The evidence from Teagasc is that, thankfully, dairy has had one of its best years ever for incomes, where m…

I thank Deputy Funchion for her question. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine was involved with other public sector bodies in an investigation of animal health and environmental concerns on the farm of the person to whom the Deputy has referred and has provided details. I am aware of the case of the person the Deputy has referred to and I understand the burden the situation has placed on him. This inter-agency group, IAG, was convened in June 2004 and comprised my Department’s laboratories, the Envir…

I thank Deputy Funchion. The reason I outlined the background to the case and the various assessments and investigations which took place was to outline that this is something that has been looked at in great detail. The investigations through the inter-agency group were completed as far back as 2010. This has been an issue and has been under consideration for a long time now, a very significant investigation and assessment has been carried out, and had been reported to the farmer and his advisers. That is the back…

I have outlined the comprehensive assessments, investigations and work that was undertaken by the inter-agency group, which completed its work and published its report in 2010. I welcome the fact that the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine considered the issue recently and, following that, l am interested in hearing the views and perspective of the committee on the hearing it had. I look forward to receiving that information and considering the matter. I outlined today the very comprehensive and in…

I thank Deputy Griffin for raising this important matter. He is aware that it is an area on which the Minister of State, Deputy Martin Heydon, has done significant work since his appointment two years ago. Farm safety is a major issue and farming continues to be the most dangerous occupation in terms of fatalities in the workplace. Fatal incidents on farms account for just over two in five of all workplace fatal incidents. Unfortunately, this year to date, there have been 12 fatalities on farms. Data from the Teaga…

We will keep working on this. Under the suite of TAMS measures, grant aid has been provided for a wide range of farm safety-related investments, with health and safety guidelines included in all building specifications. This is an important step in supported on-farm investments. With the Minister of State, Deputy Heydon, I will be increasing the rate of grant aid for farm safety-related investments to 60% under the capital investment scheme in 2023, subject to European Commission approval. Dedicated funding has bee…

I am acutely aware of the impact rising input costs has on farmers, their families and businesses. This is a period of exceptional challenge and uncertainty for our farm families and I have been working to support them through this period. The rise in feed and fertiliser prices in the last year has been significant. There are a number of factors at play in the market, including energy prices which remain well above January 2021 levels, and increased global demand, particularly from the big grain-producing countries…

We are closely monitoring this matter. My Department, working closely with Teagasc, is assessing the impact of costs on farm incomes. That is why I stepped forward with the fodder support this year to which farmers have responded very strongly. It is also why I brought forward the payment for next year to enable farmers to plan ahead and equip them with additional funds to purchase fertiliser ahead for next year. I also introduced the tillage incentive scheme of €400 per hectare to try to improve the production of …

To respond to Deputy McNamara’s question, I have been advocating for the anti-dumping tariff to be removed. That has not happened at EU level. It is a small proportion of the very high cost of fertiliser at the moment but it would have been a help nonetheless. I am disappointed that did not progress at EU level. I know Kildare, where Deputy Durkan comes from, has a great tillage sector and it is one we want to continue to support. On the pressures in the year ahead and risks around cost, I foresee that the risks wi…

The Deputy will be absolutely delighted because this is a big priority for the Government. He will warmly welcome how the Government is delivering on this and many other issues. Solar has considerable potential. We want to back farm families in developing it, availing of it and benefiting from it. To encourage on-farm renewable technology uptake and usage, grant aid is provided through grants made available by my Department under the targeted agricultural modernisation schemes, TAMS. Grants are currently available …

Subject to getting approval from the EU Commission, the new TAMS will be kicking off next January. A significant thing I am doing to drive uptake among farm families is providing a separate €90,000 allocation under TAMS specifically for solar. It is separate from the €90,000 allocation for other on-farm investments. There has been a bit of a drag regarding the uptake of solar under the last TAMS because the money all came out of the one investment and people had to choose between solar and something else. I do not …

It is hard to know the numbers but everybody should be considering solar. I want everybody to do so. With regard to microgeneration, I am engaging with the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Eamon Ryan, on his plans to develop a feed-in tariff, separate from TAMS, that farmers will be able to use to generate more solar energy – for example, by having solar panels in fields. This would allow them to feed into the grid, be paid and make money on a purely commercial basis. On anaerobic di…

The Deputy will be as well aware as I am that we have had a massive cultural challenge over the years around women not being treated equally with men when it comes to farm inheritance because of cultural perceptions. It has been the case for too long that a son or nephew is often preferred over a niece or daughter regardless of interest levels. This has led to a situation where only 13% of our farm holders are women, even though the latest census figures show that 70,000 women in the country are involved in farm ma…

If Deputy McNamara has any more ideas about what we can implement, the Ministers of State, Senator Hackett and Deputy Heydon, and I are very open to them. We want to change things to see more women coming into farming. We want to support it. This is why we are pushing the barriers out, getting the message out there strongly, and actually doing it in terms of supports. If there is anything else we can do, we will certainly look at that and be very open to it. I wish to update the Deputy on the appointment of a forme…

Of course, the first female Minister. It is great to be serving alongside the Minister of State, Senator Hackett, as the first female Minister of State in this role at Cabinet level. We have appointed the former Minister, Mary Coughlan, to chair the dialogue on women in agriculture, which will take place on St. Brigid's Day, 1 February. This will bring together all stakeholders and farm representatives within the country to gather more ideas and proposals on how we can make a difference in this regard. I look forwa…

An important pillar of Government policy is to ensure that the horse and greyhound racing industries achieve their maximum potential and, in so doing, contribute to economic and social development over a wide geographic distribution. The horse and greyhound racing industries make valuable contributions to a balanced regional economy. It is estimated that the thoroughbred sector has an annual economic impact of €1.84 billion, with direct and indirect employment of 29,000 people, while the greyhound sector economical…

I thank Senators for their contributions and the very engaging debate on the fund, which as I said at the outset is healthy and important. The level of oversight of this fund is without parallel in terms of the scrutiny it gets, between the Seanad, Dáil and committee in regard to the budget decision being implemented. I acknowledge the contributions of Senators Daly, Keogan, Lombard, O'Reilly, Boylan, Hoey, Higgins, Buttimer and Boyhan. One of the key themes that has run through all of the contributions is the impo…

Welfare is important and of paramount importance to the Government. In her contribution, Senator Boylan outlined that she supports the greyhound sector and is committed to-----

I thought it was interesting that I heard her say she supported the sector. In his contribution in the Dáil, Deputy Carthy was adamant that he and Sinn Féin support the sector. The point I made to him was I hear different contributions from different Members, in particular Senator Boylan, who it appears is against the sector. The point made to Deputy Carthy was that I expect Sinn Féin, although he did not clarify this, will vote against funding for the horse and greyhound sectors today, despite the fact Sinn Féin r…

-----have every right to feel very concerned about continued support by Sinn Féin. I know, across the board, that others are a lot more clear in their view of the fund than Sinn Féin because, as I said in reply to Deputy Carthy, I believe that on this issue Sinn Féin is trying to ride two horses. I recognise that there are different views.