I thank Deputy Cairns. I have a couple of comments on the policies of this Government and what we are doing for farmers. The budget for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine this year has increased by 11% in trying to support farm families, which demonstrates the prioritisation we give to supporting farmers in the work they do. I am progressing work on establishing a food ombudsman's office and I have just closed the consultation process on that. It again demonstrates the commitment to transparency in …

I thank Deputy Ó Murchú. I will take the second point on diquat first. The use of diquat has been suspended at EU level. There is ongoing engagement with Teagasc on alternatives and how to use them. I made it clear to farmers last year that this was the route they should take this year. On maintaining sustainable family farm incomes, that is obviously a key objective in how we frame the next CAP and the impacts it might have. It is not straightforward and certainly not black and white. The objective is to try to su…

Which budgetary cuts?

We are clear at this point on what the budget will be between now and 2028. In monetary terms, it is narrowly up but in percentage terms, the overall CAP is down. This has been a challenge over many CAP cycles. If we include inflation, it reduces its impact in real terms. Monetarily, it has increased. Pillar 2 has increased by 20%. We have fought very hard to maintain the budget and to try to keep it as high as possible. It is becoming more and more challenging at European level but we are very committed to it. As …

We have environmental sustainability and social sustainability but what anchors our family farm system is financial sustainability. That will be crucial in framing well the next Common Agricultural Policy to support families. Also, there is what we do then at domestic national level to support that in terms of additional funding, such as the 11% increase this year in national funding and the carbon tax proceeds up to 2030 supporting a new environmental scheme which can deliver significantly, not only from an enviro…

I know the tremendous value of agriculture to Deputy Lowry's constituency. He outlined it well in his contribution. I assure him that, in putting the next CAP together, we will consider all farm types and consult farmers in great detail to ensure that CAP is as farmer friendly as possible. I look forward to the Deputy's engagement in that. There will be a comprehensive consultation over the summer to which everyone, including Oireachtas Members, will be able to contribute.

Deputy Flaherty touched on a number of issues which we have touched on before and outlined the position from his county’s perspective. He touched on a number of issues such as convergence, for example, and the importance of a well-funded CAP overall and ensuring the impact on farmers and their financial sustainability is central to how we frame the next CAP. I take on board the points he made. Something that I have said throughout this debate is the importance of involving farmers in how we put together our nationa…

I thank everyone for their contributions. It has been a very constructive debate. I look forward to more of these discussions as the new CAP evolves and then, hopefully, if we get agreement at the end of this month, as we put together our national CAP plan from that point onwards. The CAP ensures that our farmers can continue to farm, that we produce the highest quality food and that we have a balanced regional economy. I refer to money coming into a farmyard staying in the locality. In the early hours of this morn…

I thank Deputy Stanton very much for raising this issue and for giving me an opportunity to update the House on it. I saw the flotilla on the news coverage last week and I recognise the frustration among fishermen that led to it. I hope to address some of those issues here in the House tonight. The main points raised by the fishing industry during the demonstration on 26 May relate to: the inequitable burden on Ireland in terms of the quota transfer to the UK following Brexit; Ireland's share of quota in our 200 na…

I thank the Deputy. I will deal first with the final point, which was the respectful nature in which the fishermen made their protests and their point, and I want to recognise that as well. They certainly made their point very strongly. As I said in my opening contribution, any sector that has been impacted in the way they have, coming out of Brexit, where 15% of quota is to be lost between now and 2026, would be massively frustrated, and that is certainly a source of massive frustration to our fishing sector. The …

I thank Senator Ahearn for raising this issue. His timing is important, as I am flying to Brussels this evening and I will be there until Friday for three days of a trilogue meeting between the Council of Ministers, the European Commission and the Parliament to try to get final agreement, as the Senator indicated in his contribution, to the European CAP plan. The CAP negotiations have been under way for just under three years. The CAP reform proposals were first presented to the European Commission in June 2018. Th…

It is complex at European level because we have the three institutions – the Council of Ministers, which is made up of the various agriculture ministers from the 27 member states, the EU Commission, which tries to co-ordinate policy, and the European Parliament. It is not necessarily that the Commission is pushing for one thing, it is more a case of the moving parts between all three institutions and the fact that 27 member states are feeding into the process. The funding pot has been defined for the next CAP at Eu…

I thank the Deputy for his question. It is important to clarify that there is no legal definition of a feedlot herd. The Department defines certain herds as controlled finishing units, CFUs, in the context of the bovine TB eradication programme. This definition is unique to that programme and does not necessarily mirror the use of the term "feedlot" by the public and-or other institutions. CFUs are subject to enhanced biosecurity measures as part of the TB programme and can only sell direct to slaughter. The Depart…

More than that, I will ensure there is a national office set up not just to assess issues such as this but also to ensure transparency right across the food supply chain. I campaigned for this in opposition and ensured it went into the programme for Government. I am now working to deliver as a Minister in the Government. Central to my mission as Minister is doing all I can to support, underpin and enhance farm incomes. Central to that is ensuring farmers are getting the best return possible in the markets they sell…

The idea behind setting up the national food ombudsman office or regulator is to ensure there will be an office in place to assess issues such as this and to ensure all activity in the market and activities that have an impact on the market will be fully delved into and have a light shone on them so we can have the necessary transparency. I am interested in hearing the Deputy’s developed thoughts and ideas on this, including his definition of a feedlot as opposed to a specialist beef finisher, for example. As he kn…

I thank Deputy Bríd Smith. In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Department, in addition to carrying out its statutory role in meat plants regarding food safety, animal health and animal welfare, is providing to the HSE and Health and Safety Authority, HSA, any support required at local and national levels. The Department continues to work closely with the relevant health authorities, which are responsible for the public health decisions made on the meat sector. If the public health authorities decided to re…

I thank Deputy Smith for her comments. As I said, meat plants are a high-risk environment because of the nature of the work and, in particular, in the boning halls with the recirculation of air and the fact the air has to stay chilled, which is something we have seen both nationally and internationally over the past period of time throughout the pandemic. That is why we have taken a very particular approach in the meat sector unlike any other sector. The meat sector, for example, is the only sector where the PCR se…

There has been no tiptoeing whatsoever. Politically, that is what the Deputy and those on the left like to portray. The reality is very different. There has been a recognition at all times of the particular challenges in meat factories. As the Deputy is aware, as with all activity in the food sector, it was designated as essential work and an essential service throughout the pandemic. That brought real challenges to all working in the sector in being able to continue to keep everybody fed throughout that period. Th…

I secured an additional €79 million, including €23 million from the carbon tax fund, in budget 2021 to support actions in the area of biodiversity, climate, environment and farm health and safety, while also supporting farm incomes. Part of this is the results-based environment agri pilot, REAP. While it is small, it is innovative, ambitious and farmer friendly. It is a pilot because we are in a transition period between now and the new CAP kicking off in January 2023. It will pay up to a maximum of €12,600 between…

Overall, there is €79 million for new agri-environmental measures this year. Out of that, €23 million is from the carbon tax fund. There is a key programme for Government commitment to introduce a new flagship agri-environmental scheme in the next CAP which will start in January 2023. In funding that scheme, there will be €1.5 billion from the carbon tax between now and 2050. In the transition period, we are constrained to pilot measures. We are not able to spend money on entirely new schemes because they cannot co…