I thank the Deputies for the wide-ranging contributions. To summarise, in order to allow my Department to provide the monies allocated in budget 2022, it is necessary to comply with the technical requirement under section 12(13) of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act 2001 to increase the cumulative limit to €1.54 billion to accommodate the extra €88 million we are allocating this year. One of the overarching objectives of the Government is to ensure that the horse and greyhound racing industries achieve their maximu…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased to introduce the Animal Health and Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021, which is draft legislation to prohibit fur farming in Ireland, to the House. The final version of the Bill, as drafted by the Office of the Attorney General, was approved by the Government at its meeting on 19 October 2021. The Government also authorised the Minister to introduce the Bill into the Dáil or Seanad for debate. The general scheme of the Bill was previously app…

I thank the various Deputies for their contributions and constructive support for the Bill. This is the first of a number of stages of bringing it through the Oireachtas. I look forward to constructive engagement on Committee Stage and considering amendments, further assessment and interrogation of various aspects of the Bill to make sure it is robust and fully scrutinised as it goes through the Oireachtas. That is only right. It is important to re-emphasise that all three of the farms in the State are complying wi…

I move: That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine pursuant to Standing Orders 95(3)( a ) and 181(1).

I thank the Deputy for his question. I am pleased to have secured more than €1.8 billion of funding in budget 2020 for the overall sector. This is in addition to almost €1.2 billion in direct payments annually. Farmers can have confidence that this budget protects family farms and their income and supports action to improve safety and sustainability on farms. I have succeeded in maintaining all of the crucial schemes for farmers. The budget provision will also allow us to provide additional funding for several poli…

To correct the Deputy, we cannot do new schemes under the transition regulation. We have the facility to continue with existing schemes and, of course, that takes a significant amount of money because at the end of a CAP programme there are full participation levels and maximum cost for all of those schemes. Thankfully, with the 11% increase last year from the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and the further increase of 2% this year, we have delivered a total increase of 13% in the budget of the Departmen…

It will be much better off with this Government in place. I refer to the proposals in the alternative budgets put forward by Sinn Féin. Even though it proposes much more spending economy-wide in its fantasy budgets, agriculture always gets short-changed. The proposals in the Sinn Féin fantasy budget for last year-----

-----came nowhere near the 11% increase I delivered last year. Agriculture was short-changed even in the massive spending proposed in the Sinn Féin manifesto before the most recent general election. I am glad-----

Sinn Féin profiled less than Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael profiled in their manifestos. Thankfully, Sinn Féin is not in government. This Government is delivering for Irish farm families.

Obviously, as regards budget pressures at European level, we fight that battle to try to keep that budget up. We got it narrowly increased after a big battle. As regards matters within our control, we are delivering a 50% increase in national funding.

I am very glad to be able to do so to support farm family incomes.

I thank the Deputy for her question. As she is aware, the programme for Government commits to ensuring "that inshore waters continue to be protected for smaller fishing vessels and recreational fishers and that pair trawling will be prohibited inside the six-mile limit". I am fully supportive of this objective, as is the Deputy. As she may be aware, in December 2018, the then Minister, Deputy Creed, who demonstrated very strong commitment in issuing this direction, announced that vessels over 18 m would be excluded…

These matters are always complex and, as we know, very much subject to legal challenge. Therefore, because I do not have the decision from the Court of Appeal on the previous process, it would be premature to commence a new consultation in advance of that. I must be informed and have all the information to hand in respect of the legal judgment on the previous process. I must await that judgment. My commitment is clear, given that I appealed the previous decision on the strength of legal advice that I sought, and I …

I value the inshore sector; it is important to the communities right along the coast. It has been great to see how they have strengthened in terms of their organisational capacity in recent months and years. I am fully supportive of that. I am aware that there is an application under consideration for PO status. I was glad to be able to award PO status to the Irish Islands Marine Resource Organisation, IIMRO, which represents the islands, a few months ago. That strengthening of the organisation has served the insho…

A statutory instrument on what?

It is my understanding that I will have to undertake a consultation in advance of any action I take. When I-----

It is important that I have access to the full information on conclusion of the legal process before I make any decisions, because we do not want any unnecessary flaws to arise in future.

In 2020, the number of farmers participating in BDGP I was 22,243 with a further 1,422 participating in BDGP II, giving a total of 23,665. Payments to farmers under BDGP for 2020 were approximately €41.5 million. A total of 27,025 farmers were participating in BEEP-S in 2020. Payments under the scheme amounted to approximately €41 million. Those farmers in BDGP I who had met all the scheme requirements could opt to join the transitional scheme in 2021. The number of farmers participating in the BDGP transitional sc…

Prior to this year, farmers participating in the BDGP were in a five-year programme. They had to sign up for five years and they did not have the option to decide whether to stay in or come out of the scheme. It was a full five-year programme. I continued it in 2021 for one year and farmers had the option to decide whether to take it up that year. In terms of practicality, I made it as straightforward as possible because I wanted to give farmers every opportunity to avail of and continue to be in the BDGP and BEEP-…

A big part of the reason was that things can change for farmers over the course of five years. We had a five-year contract that finished and people then had the option of taking a one-year contract. The administration and red tape involved in extending for a year was minimised. People could continue as they were. The scheme was not open to new entrants. People had to be in the previous five-year BDGP. We could not start a new scheme but people could continue if they were in it. While the option was open to particip…