Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions
7. Deputy Eamon Scanlon asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will review the 2025 complementary income support for young farmers penalty provisions, given that a young farmer may be required to repay moneys they never received; and if he will amend the provisions to ensure that penalties are fair and proportionate. [70782/26]
View answerI thank Deputy Scanlon for raising this important matter. Under the current CAP, approximately 7,000 successful young farmers have been paid an average of €38 million each year in supports under the complementary income support for young farmers scheme, CISYF. Young farmers who seek to benefit from the CISYF are required to demonstrate financial and managerial control of the holding. This is an important provision that shows the young farmer is actually the person farming. My Department implements an inspection regime and proportionate penalties to ensure that funds are directed to the genuine applicant.
Under the previous young farmers scheme from 2018 to 2022, a number of advisory measures with very limited penalties were put in place in an effort to address concerns about cases that were observed of applicants who could not show financial and managerial control of the farm. Unfortunately, these advisory measures did not resolve the numbers of these cases observed. As a result, the new CISYF scheme from 2023 required the introduction of further measures to address this issue. The current 100% financial penalty was one such measure that was introduced in 2023. Prior to the introduction of the penalty in 2023, my Department met farming stakeholders to set out the background to its introduction and, ultimately, this change was approved in Ireland's CAP strategic plan.
I have ensured that in the application process and all documentation, the existence of this penalty is made clear at the time of application. In addition, an information note issues to all CISYF applicants setting out information on the possible financial penalty, alongside a penalty calculation example. Furthermore, details of the requirement to demonstrate financial and managerial control of the holding are included in presentations to applicants, registered agricultural agents and farming organisations regularly.
In simple terms, in the same way farmers get inspected and audited, my Department gets inspected and audited by Europe as to how we administer funds. This was an area where there was a large amount of non-compliance. If we continue to have non-compliance in a scheme and we do not address it, we cannot continue to have that scheme in the next CAP. The measures are here to safeguard this scheme.
I fully accept the need for inspections and that applications must comply with the rules. However, where a young farmer fails an inspection, they can receive no payment and still face substantial financial penalty based on the payment they would have received. Would the Minister accept that requiring a young farmer to effectively repay money they never received is disproportionate, and will he review the penalty provisions?
I have outlined why we have penalties in a space like this. It is to safeguard the integrity of a scheme. With co-funded EU schemes, we have to be able to demonstrate that the money is going to the people to whom it is supposed to go and that they are carrying out the actions they have signed up to. There is a contract when somebody applies for a scheme like this.
Alongside the implementation of the penalty, my Department amended the procedure for inspection to allow for materiality in the process, that is, where a small mistake would not cause a penalty. Notwithstanding this, a substantial number of young farmer applicants are still failing to demonstrate financial and managerial control as head of the holding.
The CISYF is allocated a minimum of 3%, or €35 million, of the CAP Pillar 1 direct payments funding. My Department has a fundamental obligation to ensure that support is targeted to young farmers who meet the scheme requirements, particularly regarding financial and managerial control.
We work very closely with applicants, but I do not plan to amend these provisions while the number of cases failing the inspection process remains high. We need to keep the integrity of this scheme to be able to have one in the next CAP.
I have a case in my constituency that demonstrates the problem. A young farmer was deemed ineligible following an inspection. There is no problem with that. They received no payment under the scheme but they have now been hit with a penalty of over €7,000 calculated on the payments they would have received. If that amount is not paid, interest accrues and the penalty can ultimately be recouped from future departmental payments. The farmer was asked to pay this money. He could not afford to pay it but it will be deducted from further payments. I am not disputing the Department's right to carry out inspections, nor am I suggesting that somebody who does not meet the scheme conditions should receive payment, but surely losing the entire payment is already a significant consequence. It is difficult to justify then demanding over €7,000 from a young farmer based on money that was never paid to them in the first place. It is not fair or proportionate.
I do not know the finer details of the example of the case the Deputy provides, so I will talk in general terms. In 2023, before my time in the Department, the Department amended the procedure for the CISYF inspection to allow for small mistakes and technical mistakes to not be subject to a fine or severe penalty. The issue, however, is the level of non-compliance here whereby farmers are not able to show financial control or managerial control over the holding. That is what they are being paid for. They are getting EU money, co-funded by the State, to support them in that process. If a significant number of applications are not able to demonstrate that, then for us to continue to have a scheme in the next CAP and beyond, we have to be able to show that the scheme is doing what it says on the tin or what it was designed to do. Everybody is very clearly made aware at the start of the process of the penalties if they do not conform with the broader details of the scheme. That is really important to make sure we can have the scheme into the future.
8. Deputy Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of targeted CAP funding for 2027 (details supplied); and the specific emergency financial interventions his Department is implementing to support family farms through the cost-of-living crisis. [70424/26]
View answerThe proposed CAP cut to farming in County Wexford is massive, at €20 million. Across the border in Wicklow, it is €7.8 million. As the Minister knows, this is not just agricultural support. The CAP payments represent economic funding for the whole area - local shops, villages, towns, etc.
Does the Minister recognise the unprecedented pressures that farmers are facing due to this cost-of-living crisis, the soaring diesel costs and after severe drought? Will the Minister outline specific financial interventions his Department is implementing to support the family farms? They are going through massive challenges, as he will know.
The figures the Deputy refers to would have been the original and current financial proposals. There is a significant process of negotiations going on around the overall multi-annual financial framework, MFF, budget for the EU for the next seven years. There will be change in that process and throughout that element with the negotiation box due to be published this weekend, which is another step in the process by the Irish Presidency.
The agrifood sector has demonstrated its ongoing adaptability and resilience despite numerous uncertainties and economic pressures in recent years. The Government continues to provide strong support to farmers via Ireland's €10.3 billion CAP strategic plan as well as other national sectoral schemes. This results in payments to support farmers of over €2 billion annually.
I am aware of the exceptional cost pressures that family farms are facing at present. I introduced a fuel income support scheme as a targeted income support alongside the fuel excise and levy reductions and the delay of carbon tax increases introduced by the Government. Today, total payments of €26.52 million have been made under the fuel income support scheme with over 31,000 farmers and contractors paid. I acknowledge the impact the prolonged dry weather had this year and the increased challenges that family farms face. The dry conditions resulted in significant supplementary feeding on affected farms particularly in the south east of the country and in the Deputy's constituency. The use of silage and other fodder conserved for winter feeding has increased costs while also reducing the quantity of fodder available for the coming winter. Responding to the ongoing challenges, I have also availed of the flexibility to increase the rate of advance payments under BISS, CRISS and eco-schemes from 70% to 75%, helping to put more money in farmers' pockets as early as possible in the year.
Flexibility has also been provided on requirements associated with certain actions under ACRES and the scheme of investment aid for development of the commercial horticulture sector. On 25 September the Government granted a one-week extension to the slurry spreading season to 7 October, again showing flexibility between myself and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to be able to work to support farmers because of the change in the environment in farming this year.
The farmers and contractors I met this week feel it is not enough and they certainly were not happy with the budget. They pointed out that as we hold the Presidency of the EU we really need to be very forceful in negotiations, which I hope we will be. I met with Macra na Feirme in County Wexford last week and we discussed generational renewal and the many other challenges. They pointed out that the CAP income is absolutely crucial and that we cannot afford to lose a single cent of it. Food security was also mentioned, which is a real threat for the future in Ireland. Ireland's traditional family farm has been there for about 130 years, and agriculture in Ireland goes back 6,000 years. It is facing an existential threat. This is what many people feel. Three million have left the field across Europe. One third of the agricultural land in France has now been bought up by investors and corporations. The last thing we want to see in Ireland is agricultural land owned by corporations. We need to do everything we can at EU level and here to put a break to that because it is unconscionable.
I do not doubt the pressures everyone has experienced. I am a farmer's son who was raised in the 1980s. I was told there was no future for farming, Maastricht was going to be the end of us, fishing reform was going to be the end of us, greening was going to be the end of us and Brexit was going to be the end of us but it never was. My point was in the original answer but the resilience of our farming sector absolutely endures. I do not like catastrophising of issues. Yes, there are challenges and, yes, we meet people who are not happy. Everybody would always like more in a budget and so on.
The Deputy mentioned contractors. I am the first Minister for agriculture to design a scheme that contractors can apply for. Some 3,000 contractors availed of the fuel income support in the first half of this year and I have secured approval to have a second tranche of that. For ten months of this year, fuel usage by contractors is being covered to the tune of 20 a cent a litre. Those 3,000 contractors who received significant payments in June and July this year will receive another tranche of that funding before the end of this year, which will be cash in their pocket to support them with the really high input costs they have for fuel.
A farmer I know in Kilrush just outside Bunclody did mention that he was grateful for the fuel supports but that this is the single greatest pressure he is facing. He said that the tank he is filling was €4,200 last year but this year it has been over €8,000. This is really not sustainable. He and others felt the budget did not do enough to help them. Any sort of temporary relief measures is needed as a matter of urgency.
In terms of the negotiations with Europe, simplification is real issue. Any future negotiations need to have a simplified process to claim money. Farmers want to be farmers not accountants. They are being strangled by red tape. I have spoken to a lot of them and it is just unbelievable the amount of paperwork they have to go through to make a few quid. There has to be an easier way of doing things the same as we do with other sectors where the language is simplified. The process needs to be simplified and perhaps this message could be driven home too.
Happily, the Deputy can, after this debate, ring the farmer in Kilrush and can tell him he will get the same as he got under the scheme of financial support before the end of the year. It will be cash into his bank account, with no form filling. The Deputy talks about simplification and I completely agree. I was very frustrated in the past by the bureaucracy of form filling. I have introduced schemes. The first thing I did when I came into this job was to address the issues ACRES and streamline that. Some 98% of farmers are now paid. With the fuel income support, they had to go on to MyAgFood.ie and tick a box and say how much diesel they had used and it was calculated out from there. It was that straightforward.
I have also secured €46 million in supports for the increase in the cost of fertiliser. That will be paid out in cash, so I presume the farmer in Kilrush will benefit from that as well. I will be able to use the data from last year's fertiliser usage under the national database and will be able to pay that money out in cash to farmers before the end of the year, without any red tape or bureaucracy. This is real simplification and real money into farmers' pockets.
10. Deputy Edward Timmins asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the strategy for selecting cattle herds to be tested for TB given recent reports that large numbers of herds have not been tested in over two years. [71014/26]
View answerWhat is the strategy for selecting cattle herds to be tested for TB given recent reports that large numbers of herds have not been tested in over two years. Before the Minister answers I would just like to say that I welcome the announcement that the compensation limit will be increased from €3,000 to €3,500 per animal for TB.
I thank Deputy Timmins. For farmers in Wicklow and beyond - and I live very close to the Wicklow border - I know the scourge of bovine TB and the impact and challenges it has. I have been able to implement the biggest step change in approach in the 75 years that bovine TB has been on this island. My new bovine TB action plan is working and this is being proven by the figures. There is a 10% reduction in the number of farm families impacted by having restricted herds and having reactors compared to this time last year. This is over 500 farms that are not locked up right now because of the progress of this plan. I thank farmers for their engagement and the farm organisations which I engaged with for a long time last year over bringing about these changes. I know change is not easy for anybody but farmers have adopted that. They have worked on it, as well as the private veterinary practitioners and my own officials and the vets in our regional veterinary offices. Working together we really are delivering and it is a great example of where a plan can work. Even by reducing the need of funding, it is still a really heavy draw on my budget with €142 million needed for next year for the TB plan. It is, however, down from €158 million last year. That allowed me to be able to move on the compensation ceilings, which I really wanted to do, with a 16% increase in the ceilings bringing the compensation cap to €3,500.
The Deputy raised the point about testing and beyond. Under EU and national legislation relating to bovine TB testing, all animals on a holding, with the exception of calves under six weeks old, must be subject to routine tuberculin testing on an annual basis. These rules are implemented under the TB programme. There are some instances were herds do not complete a herd test, including where herds reduce their stock to zero to send their herds to slaughter, where a new herd number has been issued, or where herd owners do not comply with bovine TB testing requirements. In many instances, that is where we have existing herd numbers that do not actually have any animals in the stock. Where people do have them they have to be tested annually.
The Minister will know, as he alluded to, that I come from west Wicklow which is an area that has the highest incidence of TB in the country. I welcome the progress being made but we still have a long way to go. TB has caused huge financial and mental pressures on many farmers. Measures on cattle testing are good but we need to address the wildlife spread.
This issue is particularly acute in Wicklow, where deer are a key vector of TB transmission. It should be mandatory for all deer to be tagged when shot and that all deer be sampled and tested for TB.
Many of those deer run down from Wicklow into County Kildare. I am all too aware of the challenges they present. In many parts of the country, farmers talk about the role badgers play in spreading the disease. In Wicklow and some other parts, it is deer that are the big challenge. That is why we have 16 deer management units, one of which is in Wicklow, which are helping us to address the challenges associated with deer. I only have so many resources and this is taking up a huge number of them. My focus and that of my Department is on testing the cattle and reducing the incidence of disease.
There is plenty of bovine TB in wildlife like deer and badgers, which are vectors for transmission. It stands to reason that if the disease is in a herd, it will be in the wildlife as well, and vice versa. There is that crossover. As part of the new plan, I introduced biodiversity measures, which will make a really significant difference. The biggest impact a farmer can have is by separating cattle away from a badger sett and stopping the animals from interacting with each other. Cattle are nosey and will move around to have a look at things. When they stick their nose down the latrine, there is every chance they will pick up bovine TB there. Significant measures are being taken in this regard, alongside the work of the deer management units.
I was just about to refer to badgers. This morning, I spoke to a man who has been a vet in west Wicklow for more than 40 years. Most of the TB cases he has encountered have been linked to badgers. They are not as visible as deer and, therefore, do not get the same level of attention.
Will the Minister ensure the TB scourge is constantly monitored and that actions are taken to address it? We must do all in our power to reduce what is a massive problem in County Wicklow.
One of the key drivers of bovine TB is cattle-to-cattle transmission. A challenge the new plan is addressing is the residual TB that was going undetected. Our biggest challenge with bovine TB is that we do not have a single test that is 100% foolproof. The annual skin testing has an 80% efficacy rate, which means that one in five animals that tests negative is actually positive and will be missed. When young breeding heifers were sold on from high-risk herds to low-risk herds, it created a spreading of the disease in a very significant way. That is why we brought in the risk categorisations for animals, which will make a very big difference. We are giving a pathway out for farmers who have reactors, some of whom are in a perpetual cycle of negative tests. In addition, we want farmers whose herds are free of disease to have more confidence that they can remain free of it.
The role of wildlife is in the mix but the cattle-to-cattle transmission is very significant. Farmers tend to blame wildlife but the issue is much broader than that. My 30-point bovine TB plan is working. It is addressing all elements of the problem based on science.
11. Deputy Noel McCarthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to outline the measures being taken by his Department to encourage farm safety and farmer well-being. [70978/26]
View answerThe safety, health and well-being of our farmers is a priority for the Government. The programme for Government commits to prioritising improvements in farm safety and farmer health and well-being through strengthened supports, with a specific focus on farmer mental health and well-being.
With dedicated funding of €3 million allocated in budget 2026, the Minister and I are prioritising efforts to support the safety, health and well-being of farmers and everyone working and living on farms. This year, we awarded €1.18 million in funding to 46 farm safety, health and well-being projects under an open call. Those projects will play an important role in helping to address farming's poor safety record and in supporting farmer health and well-being. In May this year, the Department reopened the national farm safety measure, which provides a financial contribution to participating farmers covering 60% of the eligible cost for up to four power take-off, PTO, shaft covers, which can help to prevent the types of devastating accidents that have left people severely injured or dead.
Building on the success of projects promoting children's awareness of farm safety in recent years, the Department is currently funding several initiatives to promote farm safety awareness among primary school and second level students and among children and young people at public events and agricultural shows.
The Department funded the printing of the Farming in Older Age booklet from the Health and Safety Authority, which was distributed to approximately 122,000 farmers as part of the 2026 basic income support for sustainability, BISS, packs that went out in the post.
I thank the Minister of State for his response. I am pleased to see the importance with which the Department is treating farm safety and farmer well-being. I note the increase in dedicated funding to promote health and safety outlined in budget 2027. As we all know, farming is a vitally important job and the backbone of rural Ireland. Unfortunately, it is also a job that is frequently dangerous and lonely. There are thousands of non-fatal accidents on Irish farms each year and, most regrettably, some fatalities. It is important, therefore, that we make every effort to make our farms, and the machinery used on them, as safe as possible. With that in mind, will the Minister of State indicate what specific departmental schemes currently provide farmer health and safety training as part of their roll-out and if there are any plans to expand those schemes over the coming year?
My Department is supporting research in this important area, including research to develop evidence-based strategies, improve safety technologies and promote mental and physical well-being in farming communities.
The farm safety capital investment scheme, FSCIS, under the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS, 3 has a higher rate of payment of 60% for investments related to farm safety. In addition, the accelerated capital allowances scheme for farm safety equipment covers a broad range of farm safety investments, in addition to adaptive equipment for farmers with disabilities. That scheme was continued out to 2029 under this week's budget, with 12 further items of equipment added.
Health and safety guidelines are included in all my Department's building specifications for the construction of agricultural buildings and structures. Farm safety, health and well-being training is included in a range of schemes, including the suckler carbon efficiency programme, SCEP, the training scheme under the agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, and the knowledge transfer programme.
I again thank the Minister of State for his very positive response. Farmer safety and well-being is a matter about which I feel passionately. I commend the farming associations on their continued promotion of this agenda and its discussion at the relevant Oireachtas committees and here in the Chamber. Will the Minister of State outline the programmes currently being run by his Department to promote physical and mental health awareness among the farming community? Will he also expand on the health and well-being supports being offered specifically to young farmers and disabled farmers? I thank him for all he has done so far.
I thank the Deputy for raising this matter and giving me the opportunity to give it an airing in Dáil Éireann. The whole issue of farm safety and farmer health and well-being is one we need to discuss more. It is one of my areas of responsibility as Minister of State. The Minister and I take every opportunity to raise these issues, mainly through public appearances. We have undertaken a significant number of engagements all around the country. A significant number of projects are being funded through our open call. The Deputy has asked for examples. I do not have the list to hand but I will furnish that information to him later.
Suffice it to say that we cannot visit every farm holding. It is just not logistically or physically possible. However, all the organisations the Department partners with as part of our farm safety and farmer health and well-being campaign, including the Irish Farmers Association, IFA, provide a reach into our farming communities through attending marts and agricultural shows. It is that type of effort, along with a lot of engagement on social media and broadcast media to try to create awareness and promote the message. There is also the more traditional method of sending the leaflet in the post by way of the BISS packs for the benefit of those who are not on social media or otherwise media engaged.
12. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the measures he is taking to increase the amount of land in tillage. [69727/26]
View answerI heard the earlier question regarding supporting tillage farmers through the budget. My question has a slightly different emphasis in a similar area. What measures are the Minister taking to increase the amount of land in tillage?
I thank Deputy O'Rourke. The tillage sector is an integral part of Irish farming and makes a significant contribution to overall agricultural output. The Government recognises the importance of the sector and the challenges it faced this year, particularly higher input costs and the impacts of prolonged dry weather on crop yields and quality. It is the Government's ambition to grow the area in tillage in the years ahead. To be honest, what we needed to before growing the area was to stabilise it. It is remarkable that we have not lost more ground for tillage considering how difficult the past three years have been. I believe the Government's support has been an integral part of keeping farmers hanging in there in what has been a difficult time. There has not been a decent year in terms of tillage prices since 2022. The input costs, including machinery and beyond, are really high.
This is why we established the Food Vision tillage group, the report of which sets out the roadmap for the sustainable growth and development of the tillage sector. Implementation of the recommendations is ongoing, with progress reviewed regularly by the Food Vision tillage group. Considerable work has been undertaken across many of the key themes identified in Food Vision tillage report, and in particular to achieve greater recognition of the sustainability of Irish grain, along with securing new and expanded value-added opportunities. Additionally, significant funding has been provided for research focusing on areas such as the sustainability of protein production, new added-value opportunities to support the expansion of plant protein production, and the feasibility of organic feed milling and oilseed processing in Ireland.
My Department will continue to work closely with stakeholders to advance implementation of the report's recommendations, recognising that their successful delivery requires ongoing collaboration and commitment from many stakeholders across the sector. Ultimately, my vision and clear ambition for the tillage sector is to add value. Looking at what happened with our dairy and beef industries, it is the higher value markets. It is not competing on global world market prices. It is adding value to a lot of what the measures I have outlined earlier have that ambition at their heart.
I think there were up to 30 recommendations of the Food Vision tillage group. Will the Minister give us a sense of the progress on them, if he has any indication in relation to that? One of the big things I hear from tillage farmers in County Meath is the pressure in terms of availability of land and competition, whether it is from dairy or solar. Has the Minister done any assessment of that competition? What type of supports or intervention is he considering to try to balance things out to ensure that tillage is viable for farmers.
The Deputy is right to say land availability is a challenge in this space. As I said earlier, one of the key things in my mind when I was fighting to secure an extension to the nitrates derogation last year was not just for 7,000 derogation dairy farmers to continue to be able to avail of that because of our pasture-based system, it was because if they were at a reduced stocking rate, dairy farmers predominately would have required more land. They would have had to have changed their farming practices. They would have been in competition with tillage farmers. We know the income differential between dairy and tillage farming right now. That would have put a tillage farmer with really tight margins in recent years in a difficult position, such as for those tillage farmers renting land and beyond.
In this budget I have managed to secure an increase in funding allocation for the straw incorporation measure, SIM. I am delighted to be able to give the commitment that SIM will be covered next year. People know I exhausted a budget of a year early by continuously paying the full amount of allocations for it. A total of €50 million was allocated to it in the CAP strategic plan to the end of 2027. I exhausted that this year. I have received another €14 million. It means the entire package for tillage for 2027 has been increased to €54 million. That does not include the support in the Farming for Water EIP and beyond.
I will ask about the land use strategy review and how it relates to policy development. How is the Minister considering it? My understanding is that the final report from phase 2 is with the Minister and the Minister for energy and climate. Will he give us an indication in terms of whether it will make specific recommendations? Is it ambitious in a certain regard? How will it feed into policy development and the practical proposals that the Department will come forward with?
I have a supplementary question. I support Deputy O'Rourke regarding his particular question on tillage. I have two particular points I want to make. First, one of the issues that we have when we speak to the grain growers is that so much of the food and feed that we have in Ireland, which is used to produce a product that is then labelled as an Irish product. For example, practically the only Irish thing in Irish whiskey is the water. That is one of the situations that we have. The authenticity of the food we produce needs to be authentic. There needs to be some means of ensuring that, particularly in the brewing or distillery industry, that at least a large portion, if not all, of the product going into it is authentically Irish.
Under CAP, I understand that there may be some measures in regard to producer groups and strengthening the role of producer groups. Perhaps this is something that would assist the tillage industry in being able to have more muscle when it comes to ensuring that we get an adequate price for the product. The best way of sustaining any industry is ensuring that it gets a good price for what it produces.
Deputy Kenny made a point on producer organisations. We do not do enough producer organisations among farmers. It is challenging for farmers because they are signing up to a set of terms and conditions that are challenging. Very good farmers go into producer organisations because they understand directly what the market requires and they produce to the exact specification that is agreed at the start of the process. Many farmers produce what they have always produced, not mindful of changes in the market. I see that across different elements. The point on the value-added piece I made earlier is important in this regard. There is a pilot sustainability assurance scheme for tillage. I have challenged the tillage sector, farm organisations, industry and others that in order to get to the higher value market, we need a quality assurance scheme such as Origin Green and those key recommendations. That is how we are delivering the extra value for our dairy and beef sector. I know it is challenging and there are extra terms and conditions but that is where we need to get to. That is not at any extra cost to tillage farmers. It is being funded by the Department, Bord Bia and the Malting Company Ireland. Bord Bia has established a technical advisory committee in this regard. That is where we need to get to with tillage. We need to get away from dependency on world market prices and add the value-added piece for the top-quality produce they are producing.
13. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when his Department will finalise its response to a research report commissioned from the National University of Ireland, Galway on the protection of the native Irish honey bee which has been with his Department since September 2025. [71023/26]
View answerThe Green Party is passionate about bees and protecting the Irish honey bee. We advanced the Protection of the Native Irish Honey Bee Bill during the last Dáil. A piece of research was undertaken by the Department to support that Bill. It is finished but it has been sitting unpublished in the Department for a good while. When will that research be published?
I thank Deputy O'Gorman for his question. Following legal advice in relation to the Protection of the Native Irish Honey Bee Bill 2021, the Department procured independent scientific evidence and in October 2023, a contract was signed with the University of Galway for the provision of research services on the native Irish honey bee. The research work concluded, and the research report was subsequently evaluated by an external expert. Following the completion of the evaluation, the research service provider was afforded the opportunity to respond to the evaluator’s comments and these comments were received in September 2025. The Department is currently finalising the overall response to the report and I intend to bring this evaluation to the attention of the Government in the near future.
The Department is very supportive of beekeepers and beekeeping associations and the work that they do in the conservation of the native Irish honey bee. The annual grants to Irish National Beekeepers Federations, which is Exchequer-funded, provides funding to the four Irish National Beekeepers Federations to help their associated members to pursue the craft of beekeeping to the highest standards and to inform the public about the environmental role that bees play in maintaining Irish biodiversity and crop production. In 2025, the four national beekeeping federations received a total of €25,500 through this measure for various initiatives.
The Department also supports Irish beekeeping under the scheme of investment aid for the development of the horticulture sector through the provision of grant aid for capital investments by individual beekeepers in specialised beekeeping related equipment and structures, including specialised bee breeding equipment and honey extraction equipment.
I thank the Minister of State. Let us look at the timeline here. The contract for this research about the native Irish honey bee was signed in October 2023. That is three years ago now. The research was finished. The paper was then evaluated by an external expert and the expert's comments were then re-evaluated by the original researcher. A finalised report was provided to the Minister of State's Department in September 2025. That is over a year ago now. When will we see that research published? From my experience, when any report is held back for more than a year, it starts to look like the Department does not actually want those particular findings out there. I am sure that is not the case here. Could the Minister of State, therefore, give me a firm timeline of when we are going to see this research published?
To conclude my earlier input, in supporting research initiatives, €121,000 was paid under the national apiculture programme 2025 to support beekeeping through an approved applied research project being conducted by UCD. Our Department also provides funding under the conservation of plant and animal genetic resources scheme. The Native Irish Honey Bee Society received funding in 2021 and 2024 under that scheme for projects related to the conservation of the Irish honey bee.
I understand the Deputy's frustration in relation to this and the frustration among beekeepers and their associations over the time it has taken for the outcome of the research to be published. The process has taken time, including facilitating an extension to NUIG to complete the research report and expert evaluation of the report and the opportunity for NUIG to respond, as I have outlined. I reassure the Deputy that our Department is currently finalising the overall response to the research report produced by NUIG, and publication of the research report will be considered once the Bill progresses in line with the procedures here in the Oireachtas.
I am disappointed that the Minister of State has not been able to give me a clear date today. I am flagging with him that I will be coming back to the issue of the publication of this important report. On the wider issue, could the Minister of State give me the position of his Department on the native Irish honey bee Bill? It passed the Seanad, so the Department of agriculture was prepared to support it in the previous Oireachtas. It is a Green Party Bill. It is under my name at the moment, but I know members of the Minister of State's party and Opposition Members, including Deputy Heneghan, who is in the Chamber, have all voiced their support for measures to protect the native Irish honey bee. We need it because research demonstrates now that about 25% of bees in Ireland are hybrids, so the hybridisation of the native Irish honey bee is increasing. Will the Minister of State and the Government support the Protection of the Native Irish Honey Bee Bill 2021 as I seek to move it through this House?
The Government will be updated on this shortly once the Department finalises its position in relation to it and our position will become clearer then.
15. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine whether, in the context of his Department’s marine responsibilities, his Department is engaging with the Office of Public Works, OPW, MARA, local authorities and other relevant bodies on opportunities for pilot projects that would combine coastal flood protection measures with the enhancement of marine habitats and biodiversity. [70958/26]
View answerI want to raise the opportunity for two things to work together: protecting our coastal communities from flooding while improving marine biodiversity. In Clontarf, we have seen the impact of coastal flooding. I welcome the Government's investment and the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Moran. I have been engaging with engineers, researchers and Dublin Port about innovative marine structures that could potentially reduce wave energy, while creating habitats for oysters, shellfish and other marine life. It will break the wave, not break the ecosystem. Will the Department take an active role in bringing the relevant agencies together to examine how we could deliver a properly assessed project?
I thank Deputy Heneghan for raising this point. I acknowledge the presence of the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, who has responsibility for the OPW. My Department's responsibilities include seafood policy and management and the regulation and sustainable development of the fisheries and aquaculture sectors. While projects combining coastal flood protection measures with the enhancement of marine habitats and biodiversity do not fall directly within the remit of my Department, I recognise the value of such projects.
In respect of coastal flood protection measures specifically, my Department published its second statutory sectoral adaptation plan, SAP, for the agriculture, forestry and seafood sectors last year to cover the period from 2026 to 2030, inclusive. Coastal erosion and flooding have been included as risks to the seafood sector within the SAP in respect of aquaculture sites and seafood infrastructure, including processing plants, warehouses and harbours. The flood risk management sector, led by the OPW, is tasked with implementing protective measures as well as comprehensive planning to minimise disruptions and preserve the integrity of essential facilities within the seafood industry.
The Marine Institute is under the aegis of my Department. Obviously, the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, cannot be here today. As Minister of State with special responsibility for fisheries, he will take a first-hand role in this. The Marine Institute is also represented on the pillar 2 working group on coastal erosion, which is understanding risk and identifying potential risk management options. My Department and its agencies, namely, the Marine Institute and Bord Iascaigh Mhara, BIM, are actively engaged in various interdepartmental working groups in respect of the restoration and protection of ecosystems in marine and coastal waters. The EU nature restoration regulation established legally binding targets to repair degraded ecosystems to address biodiversity loss and climate change. My Department and its agencies are represented on the interdepartmental working group on the restoration of the sea, which is led by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS.
Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. Again, I just want to give that example, which we all saw on RTÉ last year when the flooding hit. There is a huge issue in one of the low points on the seafront in Clontarf with the depositing of silt. There is a solution that will not only stop this but will also benefit the ecosystem of Dublin Bay. I have been working with Councillor Kevin Breen and with engineers and researchers on the potential use of a specifically designed marine structure that will reduce wave energy while supporting marine biodiversity. Dublin Port has already worked with UCD on marine eco-engineering. The difficulty is now identifying which agency can take the lead. We also need to ensure that nothing delays or interferes with the permanent Clontarf flood defence scheme. Will the Minister ask his officials to engage directly with the OPW, MARA, Dublin Port and Dublin City Council and arrange an initial meeting to identify a lead agency and a suitable pathway for this project?
The Deputy raised a very specific point in relation to Clontarf and the concern that holds for his constituents, which I have no doubt is the case. I have no doubt that the Minister of State in my Department, Deputy Dooley, will be happy to engage in a meeting with the Deputy. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, is amenable to that from the OPW side as well. We can go through those specific points and make sure we can be of assistance with regard to that. While different issues that arise, such as flooding or coastal erosion, may not necessarily be my Department's co-responsibility, we absolutely want to be able to work and help to make sure there are no impediments because there are different agencies involved. By working together politically, we can make sure of the best possible outcome for the people of Clontarf and beyond, for the key issues that impact our sea ecosystem and for the measures that are needed from a flooding perspective as well.
I thank the Minister very much. My constituents will be delighted with that response. We are just after the budget, when the Minister, Deputy Chambers, spoke about efficiency. We are going to spend a significant amount of public money protecting our coastline in the years ahead. Why should we not look at protecting our homes and improving marine biodiversity at the same time? I welcome what the Minister has just said. We have Irish engineers, brilliant universities and people graduating - researchers who are developing innovative solutions. What we need now is a way to test them and see what they can do. That means hydrodynamic modelling, which is done brilliantly in UCD; assessing the impact of wave energy and sediment movement; examining costs and durability; and monitoring the benefits for marine habitats. I am not asking the Minister to approve a particular product, but I am asking for a clear pathway for these technologies. Ahead of what is coming and what we need to be prepared for, we need to ensure that residents have certainty on protection, with minimal economic cost and the maximum environmental benefits.
I thank Deputy Heneghan again for raising this important point. More broadly, Ireland aims to expand its marine protected area, MPA, network to reach 30% of MPAs in Ireland's maritime area by 2030, aligning with one of the goals of the 2030 EU biodiversity strategy. The lead Department is the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment. My Department and its agencies are providing valuable input to this process, including on the development of the new legislation for the effective designation and management of MPAs.
My Department is also represented on the working group and the national steering group for the implementation of the marine strategy framework directive. Ireland is required to take these measures towards achieving and maintaining good environmental status for its waters.
My Department also contributes to the working group on Ireland's fourth national biodiversity action plan, which is led by the NPWS. It sets the national biodiversity agenda for the period 2023 to 2030. The national biodiversity action plan is led by the NPWS. The marine divisions of my Department are represented on the biodiversity working group. That provides input into the national biodiversity action plan. Having the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Boxer Moran her shows that whenever he goes to do work around flood alleviation or other measures, there are an awful lot of different State agencies that need to come together. My Department will not be found wanting in continuing to collaborate and work with all interested parties.
20. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will include the recommendations of animal welfare organisations (details supplied), as outlined during pre-legislative scrutiny, into the dog breeding establishments (amendment) Bill 2026, before that Bill is brought to First Stage. [71025/26]
View answerDeputy O'Gorman may want to move on from his Question No. 16 to Question No. 20, or whichever question.
I will take Question No. 20. I thank the Leas Cheann-Comhairle.
We are a nation of dog lovers and the conditions in which many puppies are bred in this country is a growing source of concern to people. We had a detailed debate on dog breeding in this House a couple of months ago. I and Deputies across the House spoke on the issue. I welcome the fact the Minister is bringing forward a dog breeding establishments (amendment) Bill but it is not strong enough. Will he listen to the issues that were raised in the pre-legislative scrutiny, PLS, process?
We agree that there is an issue here that needs to be resolved. I hope the Deputy takes at face value my determination and ambition to address anomalies and to address gaps that allow for some bad practices I am deeply concerned about but also to recognise that there are some people who do dog breeding very well in this country and who are passionate about it. For them, there is nothing to fear from my proposed legislation because this will shine a light on good practice and eradicate any bad practice, or the possibility of bad practice should it continue.
In regard to the Deputy's question on whether I will listen or engage, that is part of what the legislative process of this House is. That is the beauty of it. On 19 May this year, as the Deputy knows, I introduced draft legislation - the dog breeding establishments (amendment) Bill 2026. I brought that to Cabinet to update the existing regulatory framework for dog breeding establishments across three key areas: welfare and breeding, sales and record-keeping, and administration and enforcement. The dog breeding establishments (amendment) Bill 2026 represents a significant update to dog breeding regulation in Ireland since the original Act of 2010. It has been too long. I know there were changes to regulations in 2018 but we are overdue in changing this legislation.
As the Deputy knows, that process is going through pre-legislative scrutiny before the Oireachtas committee on agriculture. It had its second engagement on that yesterday. That is before the full Bill comes back before the Dáil for the five Stages of legislation between the Dáil, the Seanad and the Oireachtas committee. I will work with all colleagues in this House to make sure this is robust legislation.
It is something I am determined about. I was a Minister of State in the Department of agriculture previously. I was a member of the negotiating team for the programme for Government. I actively looked to get it into the programme for Government so we could transfer the Control of Dogs Act and the Dog Breeding Establishment Act and bring them under the Department of agriculture. Local authorities still have an enforcement role, which is really important. Having those Acts under my remit allows me to act and come with really robust legislation that will make a significant change in how dog breeding practices are carried out in this country.
I thank the Minister. I am happy to take his commitment to advancing this legislation, ensuring it is strong and that some of the egregious abuses of dogs taking place in certain dog breeding establishments are ended. I look forward to working with him throughout the process.
A couple of key points came up in the PLS process, including the definition of a dog breeding establishment and how many breeding bitches had to be there. At the moment, the proposal is for around six breeding bitches. From there up is a dog breeding establishment. Draft EU legislation is looking at three, which is significantly lower. Is there a reason what is being proposed in the Minister's legislation is significantly higher than draft EU legislation?
The other issue of real concern is the ratio of staff to breeding bitches. A ratio of 1:25 is proposed. That is a huge number of bitches and puppies that a staff member is responsible for. Will the Minister consider reducing this as the process goes forward?
On a high level, the nature of legislation is that when I bring forward proposals here, I am taking on board the points and discussions that are happening at the joint Oireachtas committee's pre-legislative scrutiny. It will have its observations back. Every Member, from Second Stage through Committee Stage and in the Seanad, will have their say here as well. I will take those points of view on board. I will also highlight and take on board the legal advice I get and challenges in that space.
In simple terms, let us be clear. There are so many people who have a much-loved family dog at home and if they think back, they bought it off someone from a website and they met someone in a public car park. They exchanged money for it and happily have that dog at home. They have no knowledge of where it was bred; the conditions its mother was in before or after; how many litters that mother had in a year; or how many other dogs were in that breeding establishment. We are going to change that completely. People will not be able to purchase a new much-loved family pet or dog unless they go to the establishment in which it was bred. They will need to be able to see that the mother is there. We are going to have limits on how much breeding can happen. The types of rules that people expect are in place, and which should be in place, will be put in place with this legislation.
I thank the Minister and I recognise the passion with which he has spoken about this. However, it is these key details I am highlighting that will determine whether the legislation he brings forward makes that change. I recognise we are at the start of the process but strengthening those elements is really important.
I know the Minister's Department is represented on the dog control stakeholders group. It has a report that has been completed. It has not been published for some time. Does the Minister have any update on when that report will be published?
One of the key issues that came up in the PLS process was the question of the size of establishments. Ultimately, some of these establishments, as was raised by another Deputy earlier, are absolutely massive and raise concerns about the ability of staff to look at the individual welfare of dogs and puppies. That has to be something the Minister's draft legislation deals with appropriately.
There is a huge amount of detail. There are 17 different elements to the draft legislation. What I will publish is a very extensive draft legislation, as heads of Bills go.
For the first time, dog breeding establishments will be legally required to employ a minimum of one full-time staff member for every 20 breeding females on the premises, ensuring animals receive proper daily care and attention. That, in itself, is a significant cap on what the size of an establishment could be in terms of needing full-time equivalent staff.
A strengthened improvement notice regime will explicitly empower authorised persons to require a reduction in the number of dogs on premises where welfare concerns arise. Authorised persons will be empowered to seize dogs from establishments where an offence is suspected at registered and unregistered elements.
Fines of up to €250,000 and prison sentences of up to five years will be available for indictment for the most serious offences, improving the deterrent effect of penalties for breaches because they are not sufficient right now. There is a lot of money being made out of the breeding of dogs so severe penalties are needed to impact that.
I look forward to working with the Deputy and other Members of the House on this legislation as it progresses.
Deputy O'Gorman's next question is Question No. 25 but given the short time that is left, we will leave it.
