I thank Senator Byrne for raising this really important topic. We are all conscious of the risk due to extreme temperatures in Europe at present. High temperatures bring with them an increased risk of wildfires. We currently do not have the same degree of danger in Ireland but nonetheless, extreme care must be taken, particularly in summer months when rainfall levels are lower, temperatures are higher and more people are enjoying the outdoors. In the forecast for the coming days, we are expecting temperatures to in…

Raising awareness is important. The role farmers play with our advisers is important, too. Positive, proactive measures can be taken to not only reduce the risk of wildfires, but also protect habitats and help farmers to farm in a more proactive way. Uplands and mountain grazing is an exceptionally important part of the agricultural landscape. It requires careful management to ensure the risk of wildfire and associated risks are reduced. This is an opportune time for the Senator to raise the topic in the House in l…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The tillage sector is an integral part of Irish farming and makes a really significant contribution to overall agricultural output. This Government recognises the importance of the sector and wants to grow the area under tillage crops in the years ahead. The report of the Food Vision 2030 tillage group, which was set up to set out a roadmap for the growth and development of the sector, identifies opportunities to grow the sector and to further improve its environ…

I concur and agree with the Deputy that we want to see growth in the tillage sector. After two really hard years, I am very heartened to see a slight increase on last year in the area under arable and tillage crops. In the face of two horrendous years, it has stabilised. This year is difficult. Futures prices for the sector are still very challenging. It is the one sector of agriculture that has not seen a big uplift in commodity prices. At the same time, the crops are looking good. We have had a good year as regar…

At the end of the day, we continue to have those supports in place. There is strong co-operation, €10 million for the protein aid scheme and the allocation of money for the intervention earlier this year. While that was to recognise last year's hardship, it came out of the budget for this year, which I have to manage for tillage and all other sectors. I will continue to work with the sector. I absolutely recognise the challenges. The latest Teagasc income figure is €38,000. When you consider input costs relating to…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. To answer his question directly, the last thing farmers need is a further increase in the spread of TB. That is the root cause of all of this stress and concern, which the Deputy has articulated very clearly and on which I completely agree with him. My job is to provide leadership and to bring farmers with us. Everybody is going to have to do a little bit more here. That includes my Department and its officials as regards my budget. We are all going to have to do…

While trying to bring people with us and minimise the impact on farmers, who are already extremely stressed, I have to ensure that we have a science-based approach and that what we do is backed up by science. There are three very clear causes of the spread of bovine TB: cattle-to-cattle transmission, residual transmission and wildlife. If we do not have a suite of measures that, when layered over one another, give us a level of cover that addresses all three of those areas, we will fail. That involves difficult dec…

I want to provide that clarity as soon as possible and to restore confidence in this scheme. The final set of proposals I bring forward will be the biggest change in our approach to TB in the 75 years the disease has been in this country. I have held discussions and meetings that have fed into the TB plan, which I intend to finalise the details of and publish shortly. At a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, 24 June, I received approval and support from my Government colleagues to address the current high level of bovine T…

I thank Deputy Murphy for raising this important topic. There is EU and national legislation in place to protect the welfare of pigs. It sets out detailed requirements for pigs, including, for example, requirements for minimum space, feeding and watering of pigs, environmental enrichment, lighting and noise levels. Regarding sow stalls and farrowing crates, the legislation allows for sows and gilts to be confined in stalls and crates for a defined period and currently both are used on most Irish pig farms for manag…

The Government strongly condemns any cruelty or mistreatment of any animal. It is my Department's policy to investigate all allegations of illegal or criminal behaviour and to prepare files for appropriate action. We have very robust animal welfare legislation in this country. The welfare of all animals, in particular those in intensively reared systems such as pigs, is a priority for my Department. In the case of pigs, there is sector-specific legislation in place based on existing EU rules. Some of the measures t…

I repeat that the Government strongly condemns any cruelty or mistreatment of any animal. We carry out risk-based assessments. We also carry out investigations into any allegations of illegal or criminal behaviour and we prepare files for the Director of Public Prosecutions, as appropriate. That is a strong priority of my Department. We take that responsibility very seriously. I want to be very clear on that. My Department recently published an updated specification for new pig housing under TAMS 3, with requiremen…

I hope the Deputy always expects a good answer, not just to one question. I thank him very much for raising the agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES. The scheme is very important. I accept that there are challenges in regard to it for some farmers. ACRES is the flagship environmental scheme provided under the 2023-27 CAP strategic plan, with €1.5 billion in Exchequer and EU funding allocated over the course of the scheme. There are currently just under 54,000 participants in ACRES. Payments in respect of AC…

I did not say that.

I did not say that. The Deputy should not attribute comments to me about staffing issues. I have been very clear here; we have had a very significant challenge with processing and working through all of these issues. Some farmers were not paid on time. When I came into this job on 23 January, 14,500 farmers who were due to be paid had not been paid because of challenges we had in processing their applications. That was not acceptable to me. It is still not acceptable to me that there is a couple of percent of farme…

I believe we have made progress. I cannot be any clearer; I will not rest until every last farmer is paid. I will continue to push my officials and push the system as hard as possible to work through those last issues. The last issues are also the most difficult. To be at 99%, 97% and 94% of payments through the different cohorts is significant progress. We have made a commitment that problems will not recur on this scale. The Deputy asked for a specific breakdown, so let us make it specific to Tipperary. In Tipper…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. As she will be aware, the independent Agri-Food Regulator, established under the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Act 2023, performs two key functions: it enforces the law on unfair trading practices, and it performs a price and market analysis and reporting function. The regulator has, since its establishment at the end of 2023, been successful in delivering on these functions. On the price and market analysis function, over the past year the regulator has pub…

I want to do this as quickly as possible while also being respectful of a process that involves consultation, engagement with all sides and me listening to the concerns of the industry. The industry has concerns over how the information could be distorted by competitors abroad. The regulation applies only to our domestic market and we export 90% of the food and drink that we produce. These points will be made as well. I want to make sure there are no unintended consequences to giving the additional powers to the Ag…

Section 12(3)(d) of the Act allows the regulator to seek data impacting on price and margins from businesses within the agricultural and food supply chain. The data include, but are not limited to, prices paid and received and margins. This answers the Deputy’s question in this regard. I do not want any suggestion to land that the Agri-Food Regulator is not able to operate. It is operating very well and I commend it on its work, which has been valuable to date. I acknowledge the fact that the regulator secured, in …

The overall response to TB is to address all elements of its spread. There are three key contributors: wildlife, its control, and the interaction of wildlife with bovines; cattle-to-cattle transmission; and residual transmission in the herd. As we know, herd incidence has increased from 4.3% in 2022 to 6.04% in 2024, resulting in a 36% increase in the number of herds restricted between 2022 and 2024. As of 22 June this year, over a 12-month period we had a herd incidence of 6.43% with over 43,455 reactors. This dis…

If a badger is examined and tested and is found to have TB, then for its own sake it needs to be culled as well as to stop the spread of the disease to other badgers, bovines and others within the community. Vaccination has a role to play but the vaccination process we have used to date has not worked to the same extent. I will be very clear. There are three causes of the spread of this disease and wildlife is one of them. As the Deputy knows in her county and mine, deer are a significant contributor. We have had d…