Vol. 1067 No. 4
117. Deputy John Clendennen asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the details of the number and type of trade promotion events he has participated in since his appointment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25107/25]
Will the Minister give us the details of the number and type of trade promotion events that he has participated in since his appointment.
I thank the Deputy for raising what is a really important point around trade and trade promotion, which has become so pronounced in the lexicon of everybody and much more in the focus of everyone who pays even a cursory glance at what happens in agriculture. When other countries talk about tariffs and changes to our trade flow, it probably brings a focus in this country from people who do not always recognise that we export 90% of the food and drink we produce. It is highly sought after at home and abroad. Any interruptions to that trade have impacts. Given our dependence on the agrifood sector in regard to exports, trade and market diversification, it is a key priority for my Department and myself.
Food Vision 2030, the shared strategy for the agrifood sector, reflects the importance of diversifying and developing new markets and new market segments for Irish food and drink products in the UK, the EU and wider international markets. Food Vision has a goal to increase the value of exports of sustainably produced high quality Irish food and beverages globally. Agrifood export value reached a record €19.26 billion in 2024. Bord Bia, a State body funded by my Department, is dedicated to promoting Ireland's outstanding food, drink and horticulture produce around the world. Its activities include participation in the food exhibitions and trade shows, digital campaigns, retail and restaurant promotions and various other trade promotions and events including campaigns around Saint Patrick's Day global events. Bord Bia also hosts inward buyer visits on an ongoing basis and meetings with key international companies.
In April, I led a visit to the US in collaboration with Bord Bia and Enterprise Ireland. During this visit, which included Washington DC, Kentucky and Chicago, I participated in 11 promotion events as well as key political meetings with senior US political representatives, including my counterpart, Brooke Rollins, the secretary of the US Department of Agriculture. I can also highlight some of my other responses in supplementary.
I thank the Minister. I met with agriculture students and teachers at Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board at the Intro to Ag initiative in recent days. I have also met with producers and farmers. It is clear that they are extremely proud of the high regard for Irish produce across the world. The level of innovation within this sector is best in class. It is important that we ensure it remains best in class.
Our success in this sector did not come about by accident. It came about through strategic planning, investment and branding, marketing and promotion. We need to reassure the sector that that will continue long into the future. I recognise the work of Bord Bia to make that materialise over a number of years.
I see three strands on which we need to focus. Promoting Irish produce overseas is certainly one of them. We need to see how we can further assist food producers. We also need to encourage Irish supermarkets to stock more Irish produce where possible.
I thank the Deputy for raising those points. Trade and trade promotion has many different facets, as the Deputy outlined. In terms of the political meetings I had about trade when abroad, reassuring people about our quality assurance scheme, a nationally backed quality assurance scheme that has our farmers, our food companies all together pulling towards the one set of standards that are independently verified, is hugely appreciated and very much recognised internationally.
Next month I will travel to Japan and South Korea. I will attend the Seoul Foods Expo, which is the fourth largest food exhibition in Asia, as well as World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan. Planning is also under way for a significant trade mission by my Department and myself to China in late autumn. We will have trade receptions in London and Paris as well. On all of those occasions we put Ireland's best foot forward and tell that story of what our farmers are producing, the traceability, the safety and sustainability credentials. We will continue to tell that story because trade is such a key part and so important for our farmers and their incomes.
While other speakers made reference to the threat of TB, there is also the threat of trade tariffs. We need to remove the barriers in our control, one example of which is alcohol labelling.
We need to look at growing our existing markets as well. France and Germany have similar populations, yet we export three times the produce to Germany that we do to France. I have to question why that is the case. What are the barriers or challenges to achieving the same penetration in the French market as in Germany? As the Minister said, there is a huge opportunity in Canada, India and the Far East and we have to look at materialising that further.
I mentioned supermarkets. A register should be introduced to determine the percentage of Irish produce, European produce and rest of world produce on our shelves so that we are ensuring full transparency for Irish produce on supermarket shelves.
There is another supplementary question.
I support the Deputy on that. At the end of the day we have to get Irish produce into supermarkets. We have to get it exported everywhere around the world. I attended the agrifood regulator inaugural conference today in the Johnstown Court Hotel in County Meath. It was an excellent event and it showed us that we have to look after the farmers and that the primary producer has to get fair play. I know the Minister met the regulator's officials the other evening and I spoke to Joe Healy about that. They need to get proper teeth but they also need big resources. They need to have the people there to be able to do the research to find out what is going on and be able to bring transparency into the system. That is vital.
The other point is that internationally our trade is under threat because of this new tariff regime that is coming in from the US. It is creating huge uncertainty in markets all over the world. We need to recognise that. We will have to have our front foot forward to deal with that.
That front foot forward is exactly what I am doing in leading my Department. It is why I was in the US for a series of political meetings at Capitol Hill over a couple of days and meetings with other key clients and customers across the US. It is why I will travel to Asia next month. I continue to take those opportunities to tell the story of the innovation that Deputy Clendennen referenced in our food system. Deputy Kenny just highlighted the point I was going to make on the domestic market and our supermarkets and retailers. The agrifood regulator is doing important work in that regard, bringing transparency while also making sure unfair trading practices are not happening. Since we established the office, it has had a lot of success. I am very supportive of that. I am keen to make sure the officials are equipped to do the job they need to do in providing transparency. It is important for the relationship across the supply chain from our primary producers - our farmers - through to our processors and the retail element that we have that equilibrium.
I work closely with my colleagues, including the Minister of State, Deputy Grealish, on expanding elements of the markets we are in already. They are just as important as new markets and there are sometimes original contacts that make it easier. We continue to work on all those new opportunities, for example, the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, with Seafood Expo and others.
118. Deputy David Maxwell asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for an update on a proposal to restrict the sale of dairy cows in marts from herds that have had an outbreak of TB in the previous three years. [14097/25]
I want to start by thanking the Minister for bringing together all of the parties to work out sensible solutions to eliminate TB on Irish farms.
I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue, which I know is of concern to his constituents in Cavan-Monaghan. On 8 May, I held a TB summit with key stakeholders where discussions were held on the most effective ways to mitigate the impact of bovine TB on farm families and reduce herd incidence and spread of the disease. The backdrop to this meeting was the need to address the deteriorating bovine TB disease levels. Herd incidence increased from 4.31% in 2022 to 6.04% in 2024, which was a 36% increase in the number of herds restricted. Over 6,000 farm families were affected by a TB outbreak in 2024.
At the summit, I presented 30 potential actions underpinned by five key pillars to address the current rates of bovine TB: first, to support herds free of bovine TB to remain free; second, to reduce the impact of wildlife on the spread of bovine TB; third, to detect and eliminate bovine TB infection as early as possible in herds with a TB breakdown and avoid a future breakdown; fourth, to help farmers improve all areas of on-farm biosecurity; and fifth; to reduce the impact of known high-risk animals in spreading bovine TB.
As part of this engagement, a proposal to restrict the sale of certain cows from breeding herds of greater than 60 cows that have had an outbreak of TB with three or more standard reactors in the previous three years to other breeding herds was discussed. Only cows present as part of the milking group at the time of breakdown would have such a restriction imposed. This would not apply to calves or replacement animals in these herds if there were no reactors in those groups of animals. This proposal is aimed at ensuring residual or undetected infection does not enter into clear herds inadvertently through the sale of these high-risk animals. The risk of these animals having residual infection is highest in the first three years following a clear test, hence the necessity for ensuring these animals do not go on to transmit infection into clear herds. I will expand further in my supplementary response.
I thank the Minister. Everyone agrees there is an urgent need to make major changes to the TB programme to try to get this disease back under control. We know that the Department and farmers have put forward plenty of proposals to address all sources of the disease and look at measures to mitigate its spread. Farmers are concerned that the risk-based trading ignores the most fundamental objective of stopping the spread of TB. The Department’s proposal does not stop TB spread. It merely compounds the losses for farmers who, through no fault of their own, have had TB outbreaks and are just returning to some normality on their farms and trying to get themselves going well again. They feel this risk-based trading is a hindrance.
The engagement I had on this and all other proposed actions with the stakeholders will feed into the draft proposals to help contribute to a more effective programme that protects farmers and their families from this disease impacting their herds. I will meet the farm organisations again later this week to discuss updated proposals on foot of our discussions. This has been a deliberative process since February and we have been back and forth. I have listened and taken on board many of the points and concerns that the Deputy raised.
I hope to achieve a broad consensus on these proposals but there is an urgency and I intend to move quickly to refine the programme and ensure that the necessary steps are taken to reduce the impact of this disease on farmers and their families because I know how devastating it is. However, I must be clear. The science is very clear: there are three key contributors to the spread and escalation of bovine TB as we have seen in Ireland in recent years. One is wildlife, one is cattle-to-cattle transmission and one is the residual effect in herds that have had a significant breakdown. We must address all three issues in any final solution.
Our dairy industry is a critical part of rural Ireland and the production of milk is essential for our economy. In recent years, the number of farmers leaving the sector has risen. If this ban is put in place, it could be the final straw for some farmers to leave the sector where, through no fault of their own, they cannot trade in marts for three years because their herds are restricted. If this happens, who is going to compensate the farmer for the significant loss he or she could suffer?
We all understand that action is needed to tackle the scourge of TB but I ask the Minister to look again at this proposal and not end up putting farmers at the mercy of having to deal with a closed market for three years. It is not just about the financial loss for our farmers but also the emotional loss that can affect a farmer and his or her family when a herd goes down with TB.
It is extremely frightening to see a 36% increase in the number of herds restricted over a two-year period and the whole increase over the past five years. It is important that we do everything possible in the shortest time to reduce the numbers as well as the reasons they have increased so dramatically in such a short period. I know officials in the Department, the veterinary profession and farmers are working hard but everything possible must be done to deal with this issue in as short a time as possible. Over the next three to four years - it will take that time to reduce the numbers - everything must be thrown at it to ensure that the restrictions that need to be put in place to stop the spread of TB are put in place and fully complied with.
Before we go on, I would describe it as a drastic move to curb a farmer from selling his or her stock in a mart for up to three years. Does the Minister realise what he is doing to farmers, people like myself who get up every morning and work? There is no guarantee about this. We are talking about something that got worse and worse despite the money that was invested in the scheme. There is no guarantee that taking a draconian step like this would have any effects. This would be a stigma attached to farmers like myself where, at the end of the day, there is no guarantee that anything would change.
I want to know who came up with this idea. What scientific results has that person to prove that something like this will happen? It is like we are saying we will try this and it might work. Something like this would have a devastating effect on Irish farmers.
There are two key priorities for me. I know the emotional turmoil there is with having a reactor – the impact it has on families as well as the financial impact. The two clear priorities I have is to ensure that those farmers and farm families that are currently affected or will be affected in the future by a bovine TB breakdown have a clear pathway out of that and that we ensure that fewer are affected in future. The scale of the challenge at the minute is significant and deteriorating, so it cannot be business as usual. In the whole of 2020, my Department spent €20 million on compensation for farmers who had reactors and breakdowns. We spent €20 million compensating farmers in the first four months of this year. That is the trajectory we are dealing with, so it cannot be business as usual, but I guarantee that any measures adopted are based on the best scientific and veterinary advice. Through strong leadership by all involved in the programme and by working together, we can bring in the necessary measures, as Deputy Burke outlined, that will make a meaningful difference, stop this infection increasing and drive down its spread greatly so that we can get back to credibly talking about eradication again.
119. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if TAMS 3 is facilitating investment in farms to help make them more resilient in the face of severe storms such as Storm Éowyn; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25109/25]
I am delighted the Deputy raised the point regarding the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS, particularly as it is such an important support for our farmers and farm families. It is grant aid to farmers to build or improve a specified range of farm buildings and equipment on their holdings, which will assist in making farms more resilient in the face of storms.
In acknowledgement of the urgency of support required following Storm Éowyn, I opened a new tranche of TAMS 3 for a three-week period in March to deal specifically with storm-related damage on farms. The items in respect of which applications were accepted over this three-week period are as follows: back-up power take-off, PTO, generators; sheep, bovine and equine fencing that was damaged; and wood and biomass chippers and mulchers. Considering the recent power outages arising from storm damage, I reviewed the scope of generators supported by TAMS to include all generators, irrespective of the drive mechanism. The grant is targeted at the generator rather than the drive mechanism. While these generators are included as an investment item under the dairy equipment scheme, the investment is open to all farmers who declare the minimum eligibility requirement of 5 ha under the basic income support for sustainability, BISS, scheme in the year of application or preceding year. There is no requirement to be milking cows to be eligible for back-up generators under the scheme. For example, foresters and farmers with forestry, for which the Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae, has responsibility, will very much benefit from mulchers and chippers as well.
In addition to these existing investments and to further aid resilience, I recently announced plans to introduce grant aid support under TAMS for replacement of roofs. The application process for this investment will be available later this year, when systems are developed. In the meantime, I urge farmers to carry out a structural assessment of their farm buildings. The suite of TAMS schemes, which includes more than 400 investment items, is the best mechanism for ensuring that funding is targeted at the most appropriate enterprises. That is why I made this particular tranche available to farmers in March.
I wish the Aire the very best with his brief. It is an important and challenging one. The way that window was opened in responding to a storm was very welcome. Storm Éowyn showed how vulnerable rural communities in particular are in the face of extreme weather events. The Minister mentioned the grants to redo roofs. It would be a good time to look at the solar capital investment scheme, SCIS, which is very welcome. It allows farmers to build resilience into energy supply. They can meet their daily energy needs and improve their ability to withstand future storms. I had a reply to a parliamentary question today that showed just over 3,200 applications were received for that scheme and 2,300 approvals were issued. Is the Minister happy that the SCIS is set up and funded sufficiently to get the mass of farmers that will be needed to come across?
We are using TAMS to be as agile as possible. TAMS has seen a highly significant increase in drawdown because farmers see the benefit of it. On that support, and there is also support under TAMS for solar panels, which has seen significant drawdown for those with high energy bills and the ability to do so, the agility of the system has been so important in allowing us to respond in real time to farmers who are affected. I am mindful that many farmers availing of this will be able to draw down and get generators that could well stand to them and can build up resilience ahead of the next storm. It was not just in response to Storm Éowyn. It was also about future-proofing our farmers and recognising the impact a devastating event such as Storm Éowyn can have.
On the Deputy's point on solar, I support farmers' ability to get that alternative income stream. That is why we took away the planning permission requirement for solar panels on the roofs of sheds. That allows farmers to continue to do their farming activity but to bring in alternative and additional farm income as well.
I was reading about the scheme. There is just one little wrinkle, which is that there does not seem to be support for microgeneration. A farmer cannot put panels on the roof and put excess power back into the grid. It seems a little unfair, given that you can in a residence. If there are panels on the roof of a home, excess power can be put back into the grid. That feels like a missed opportunity. Maybe it could be looked at in future.
I assure the Deputy it has been looked at. It is a challenge and a source of great frustration for farmers that have not benefited. The farmers who have mainly benefited from solar panels on the roofs of sheds, and the TAMS support for it, have been those with high energy bills, especially dairy farmers when offsetting those dairy bills. Under state aid rules, using the TAMS mechanism, whereby farmers would be able to sell back into the grid, has not been a possibility for us. It comes down to the accounting at EU level. That is a source of frustration. It is something we have looked at. I would love to be able to get it changed at EU level but there is that restriction on it. It is still very important that we have the solar element. I remind the Deputy that the solar element is at the higher rate of 60% under TAMS in recognition of that cost. It is also a separate headline. It is there because we recognise that farmers who are drying grain for tillage or whatever have very high energy bills. This is suited to them and the other schemes might be suited to the broader solar panels issue. For that alternative income, it is benefiting farmers who have those high energy costs.
121. Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for an update on negotiations taking place at EU level on the Common Agricultural Policy 2027+. [25604/25]
The CAP is a key instrument in supporting farmers and rural communities, whether it is food production, protecting the environment, biodiversity, rural development and so much more. There is concern that the CAP will be seen as part of a wider EU budget instead of being ring-fenced, as it appears it is at present. In the context of negotiations that are taking place at EU level, will the Minister give an outline of where things stand on the CAP?
I am delighted to have the opportunity to do so. The CAP is absolutely critical. I wish the Deputy well in his role as chairperson of the joint Oireachtas committee on agriculture. I look forward to working with him and his colleagues in the term ahead.
As Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, I am working closely with EU institutions and my counterparts in other member states to influence negotiations on the next CAP. The CAP is central to the EU’s success in ensuring food security, supporting farm incomes and developing rural areas. The CAP also remains critical to the agrifood sector’s resilience and competitiveness, as it has since Ireland joined the EU more than 50 years ago. I recently set out my four key priorities for the CAP: a CAP that is more straightforward for farmers; a more flexible and responsive CAP; one which has an appropriate balance between all elements of sustainability; and an adequate and dedicated budget that is needed for an effective CAP. I am determined that the CAP will continue to play a positive role in supporting Irish farmers, the food industry, rural communities and the wider economy into the future.
It is a key responsibility of Government to raise Ireland's concerns with our EU partners and to influence EU policy. For my part as Minister, I meet with my counterparts in the Council of the European Union every month to discuss and shape agriculture and food policy in the EU. I have and will continue to engage with Christophe Hansen, the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Food, and my fellow EU Ministers on the issues affecting the agrifood sector, including the CAP post 2027, at Council meetings as well as in bilateral discussions. I have my next meeting of the AGRIFISH Council next Monday in Brussels. I will prioritise these engagements at European level, particularly in preparation for Ireland’s Presidency of the EU in the second half of 2026.
Funding for the CAP forms part of the broader EU budget, known as the MFF, which is ultimately agreed by the heads of government and at European Council level. That will obviously hugely shape what comes next in terms of the CAP. We are bringing along the CAP proposals. The Commissioner is proposing to publish them around the same time in July in order that they can all be discussed and debated together.
The AGRIFISH Council is due to meet next Monday, as the Minister mentioned. Will he confirm whether discussions on the CAP will be on the Council's agenda and what issues will be covered? The Minister said he had been in contact with Commissioner Hansen, who is responsible for agriculture and food. Commissioner Hansen recently published his vision for agriculture and food, which recognises the essential role of farmers in seeking to boost the agrifood sector's competitiveness and attractiveness. Does the Minister foresee this vision impacting on the development of the new CAP?
In my engagement with Commissioner Hansen to date, I feel he is someone who gets it, both from his visit to Ireland in January and in his vision for agriculture in the different points he has outlined. He feels like somebody who understands the importance of the CAP for our farmers and food production system. The reason I clearly outlined my core priorities and those of Ireland regarding the CAP is to get them established early.
To have them established earlier, I brought a memo to the Cabinet and got approval from my Government colleagues for the approach I want to take. In the second half of 2026, when the finer details of the CAP will be in the melting pot, we will have the Presidency of the EU. At that stage, I could be chairing the EU agriculture Council. Already, agriculture ministers from the other 26 member states are looking for bilateral meetings to engage with me and tell me what their priorities are. I want to clearly articulate to them and Commissioner Hansen what our priorities are for protecting the Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 payments and the separate fund for agriculture that is so important to our sector.
The programme for Government commits to simplifying the schemes and access for farmers. It also commits to reducing the administrative burden and red tape farmers encounter through flexibility in the design of the scheme and also stakeholder input. Commissioner Hansen has announced a draft CAP simplification and some proposals to change the legal framework. I welcome the announcement. The Department engaged with the Commissioner on efforts to reduce the overall burden on farmers. Given that the Department had direct contact and involvement with Commissioner Hansen on the draft package, can the Minister confirm the package will meet the commitments in the programme for Government to have a more simplified and straightforward system for farmers?
I recently had a meeting with IFA officials, as I stated previously. A line I used before is that the organisation is very good at keeping the Minister’s feet to the fire in relation to issues. The officials had recently been at a meeting in Brussels and obviously spoke about their fear of cuts to CAP under Pillar 2. They spoke about the whole conversation as regards ReArm Europe, etc. Obviously, the argument needs to be made.
Another point that was made – the officials were very decent in that they provided me with minutes of the meeting – concerns the idea that in the approximately two-year timeframe for the new CAP, the Government needs to make sure every step is taken to ensure simplification of application. It needs to be possible to apply for all schemes at one time. We need to have clear rules and regulations and ensure the system is streamlined. We have dealt with this before. There are a number of issues with farmers constantly having to provide the same information for different schemes, sometimes to the same Department. It has to be possible to streamline all of this while making sure all the necessary negotiations are engaged in with regard to protecting the CAP.
There are two parts to this. The multi-annual financial framework, or the overall budget for Europe, will determine so much of the second part around the CAP. That is why the Heads of State and Government, including the Taoiseach, will have a key role to play in terms of engagement at this level and at the European Council. The Government has been very fair in articulating its priorities around protecting the CAP structure and the very positive roles played by Pillars 1 and 2. I have highlighted my concerns about rumours circulating that there will somehow be a central pot that member states will pull out of, and also about the impact of this on the Single Market and cohesion.
While the first part is the overall budget, the second involves ensuring a focus on delivering a simplified CAP. The points on simplification are to come this year. Some are administrative and will make a change, but the overall simplification will be in the design of the new CAP. There will be an element of national discretion whereby we in this House and the key stakeholders will discuss how I can design a CAP that best suits our agricultural system. First and foremost, it is about protecting the budget and having it ring-fenced to deliver what we need it to do.
122. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if any analysis has been carried out to date on potential new markets for agrifood produce, exports of which to the US currently amount to almost €2 billion per annum, should tariffs be introduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25705/25]
Has any analysis been carried out to date on potential new markets for agrifood produce, exports of which to the US currently amount to almost €2 billion per annum, should tariffs be introduced? Will the Minister make a statement on the matter in the context of his visit to the US?
I thank Deputy Neville and the other Deputies present for staying up this late at night to raise very important questions. We are on the night shift here.
This matter is very important. There is concern among farmers over the impact of tariffs. It refocuses everyone’s mind. We are so busy day to day on our farms that we sometimes forget that we export 90% of the food and drink we produce. When key trading partners make or propose significant policy changes it can quickly have a very big impact at farm-gate level. I am very conscious that the additional tariff rate of 10% on all imports to the US, in place since 9 April, directly impacts the competitiveness of Irish agrifood exports on the US market. It makes Irish food and drink products more expensive for US consumers, who, as I have seen at first hand, really value our premium Irish products. However, the 90-day pause on the US side in relation to the higher tariff rates originally announced on 2 April, along with the EU pausing its countermeasures, have created the conditions for meaningful negotiation.
Ireland’s consistent position remains that we need to get into a calm, measured and comprehensive dialogue with the US to avoid damage to our bilateral trade. This is also the position of the EU. Ireland, as part of the EU, wants to play a constructive role and will continue to be a voice for calm and measured engagement in the time ahead.
The US is the second largest market for Irish agrifood exports after the UK, with exports last year valued at almost €2 billion. My recent trade mission to the US offered me an opportunity to highlight the mutual benefit of our trading relationship with the US and the level of investment by Irish companies in the US market, creating jobs and adding value for local economies.
Meaningful negotiations with the US remain the main focus for both the EU and Ireland. The Commission is fully engaged in discussions with the US and a negotiated solution remains very clearly the goal and our preferred outcome. We continue to work in that regard.
I thank the Minister. I will make sure to bring back to Kildare word that its two Fine Gael Deputies are among the hardest working TDs in the country. I had the good fortune of being able to nip back to Leixlip and Kilcock for events earlier this evening. I am slightly closer to Leinster House than the Minister, so I am lucky in that regard.
I will make a couple of comments on the great potential associated with trading partners such as India and China. What discussions have we had with emerging nations? Have we shone an extra light in their way?
In the context of expanding our base internally to make up for circumstances, today I was lucky enough to go to a food trail event in north Kildare. When focusing on Kildare, I was thinking about the microeconomic and micro-business sides working together with the agricultural side. Is there an opportunity to work with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment on both agriculture and business to try to put a new face on farming?
There absolutely is. I continue to work with the Minister for enterprise, Deputy Peter Burke, and all colleagues across the Government.
On enterprise, there is considerable pressure on our whiskey distilling sector because 40% of the whiskey we export goes to the US. Changes such as those to tariffs have a direct impact on industries. I am working with the Minister, Deputy Burke, on his plans to develop an action plan on competitiveness and to help us to control the things we control.
We always consider market diversification. I am on record as saying the US tariffs challenge we face feels like Brexit mark 2. A key trading partner of ours is making or proposing a very significant policy shift, which will hurt us, our companies and consumers. It is really going to hurt US customers and companies. The EU has a role, and the EU response has an impact. Therefore, we have to use our position, based on our close bilateral relations with the US, to best articulate what exemplifies our position. It is a case of negotiating from a position of strength from the heart of the EU. That is the only place to be and it is exactly what we did during Brexit and what we will continue to do here. We will also seek to diversify our market opportunities, which is why I will travel to Japan and Korea next month and to China later this year. The Ministers of State, Deputies Dooley and Grealish, will also lead trade missions over the course of the year.
In the context of Kildare and given that the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, is seated beside the Minister, we should remember Kerry Group is one of Kildare’s major employers and exporters. We are fortunate the company is based in Naas and is a key employer in our county. What discussions has the Minister been able to have with such businesses? What mitigating measures can we put in place ahead of tariffs and what discussions can we have? No more than we have Intel in the north of County Kildare producing semiconductors, we also have a huge food industry.
Considering this from that perspective, is there the level of work we can do to mitigate any tariffs that may come in the future, to allay any potential fears and to offer assistance in looking for new and additional markets to help bridge any gap we may find from any tariffs?
As Minister for agriculture, I have a close working relationship with the food industry and businesses. When people think agriculture, they think farmers. That is only right since there are 120,000 Irish farmers who produce that top-quality food. We also have 170,000 people, or close to it, employed in this sector, however, and many of those high-quality jobs are in food processing and in those companies the Deputy mentioned. They all feed into the value of our exports, which last year alone were worth €19.2 billion to the overall economy, so it is all those jobs together. When I lead trade missions to Asia next month, as I have to America on many occasions, I will be joined by companies. I will go to the Seoul Food expo in Korea, the fourth largest food exhibition in Asia, and follow that with the World Expo in Osaka, Japan. I will be accompanied by Bord Bia, which, as a semi-State agency, is our direct link with those companies. They tell us where their key opportunities are, we work on market access issues and we work on trade promotion with those companies. What benefits food companies and their exports also benefits farmers and feeds directly down to that balanced regional development and the importance of the rural economy.
124. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the supports his Department is providing to help farmers meet national and EU climate targets, particularly regarding emissions reduction, biodiversity enhancement and sustainable land use; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25747/25]
What support is the Minister's Department providing to help farmers meet national and EU climate targets, especially in emissions reduction, biodiversity enhancement and sustainable land use? Will the Department focus in particular on nature-based solutions? I was very lucky to have worked on an integrated constructed wetland and I would love to hear the Department's opinion on the use of such wetlands as a tool not only to reduce our emissions but also to clean our water.
I thank the Deputy for raising a very important point. I am delighted to be able to put on the record that I am committed to the long-term viability of the Irish agriculture sector, as the Deputy would obviously expect me, as Minister for agriculture, to say. Included in that are farm families, who are the bedrock of the sector, the agrifood industry and the rural economy. The industry is hugely important in terms of economic activity and employment.
At the same time, Ireland's national and EU ambitions on climate, land use and biodiversity are challenging and will require the application of the best scientific and technological advancements available, coupled with engagement of all stakeholders, if we are to meet both national and international commitments. I reassure the Deputy that this sector is up to the challenge, supported by the Government. It is something I am focusing on and will continue to focus on through collaboration and engagement with all involved.
The EPA published the Ireland's Final Greenhouse Gas Emissions 1990-2023 report in April of this year, which sets out that total greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture sector in 2023 were 20.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents. This represents a year-on-year decrease on 2022 of 4.9% of greenhouse gas emissions from the sector. While this decrease represents notable progress, it is important we continue to support Irish farmers and maintain this positive trajectory towards meeting our targets.
Pathways to enable the sector to meet its 2030 climate ambitions in the agriculture and land use sectors are set out in the Climate Action Plan, which is now reviewed and updated annually in accordance with the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021. Ireland's Common Agricultural Policy strategic plan is supporting farmers to transition to more sustainable practices while also supporting family farm incomes, with a budget of €9.8 billion. As part of that plan, my Department is providing €1.5 billion for the agri-environmental scheme ACRES, increased funding for organic farming, which has increased the area farmed organically in Ireland to 248,000 ha, and €260 million to improve the carbon efficiency of the suckler herd through genetic improvement.
I am delighted to hear that the Minister is committed to our climate targets. I know he might be surprised to hear a north Dublin TD who cares about agriculture, but it is something I studied in college. He has just mentioned the sustainability aspect. To what extent are the CAP payments now tied to the measurable climate targets and how is the Department ensuring these conditions drive genuine change?
Integrated constructed wetlands, ICWs, are brilliant, especially for farm runoff, using a piggery or any alternative to a wastewater treatment plant. They are really low cost and they filter hydrogen and phosphorous naturally. Not only that, a tiered system of ICWs also adds biodiversity to an area and creates a wetland, which is also a natural hold for carbon. I urge the Minister's Department to look into these as an effective, cost-effective and necessary way to solve this.
We have so many supports available for our farmers, who are up for this challenge, as I said earlier. I am accompanied by the Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae, who has a budget of €1.3 billion underpinning the forestry programme 2023-2027, which is the means by which we are implementing the forestry strategy and supporting farmers and the industry to reduce emissions through carbon capture, which Deputy Heneghan outlined, in many different ways. It is really important. My Department supports a range of other climate change mitigation activities, including improvement in bovine genetics, which has a massive potential in terms of the scalability and the cumulative benefit year on year, investments in solar panels on farms, support for multi-species swards, and many other measures.
I have always said farmers cannot go green environmentally if they are in the red financially, but the truth is that the smart business play, not just the right thing to do by our environment, for our farmers is adopting more of these sustainability measures, once we make sure that sustainability stool is equally divided between the economic, the environmental and the societal. We are definitely making great strides in that space and farmers are doing their bit.
I am delighted to hear that, and I thank the Minister for the engagement today. I wish him the best of luck. He has a great brief, and Ireland will definitely be defined and our Government will be defined by how we act in the next four or five years in this regard. I urge the Department to look at integrated constructed wetlands as a cost-effective solution. They store carbon, they boost biodiversity, this week being biodiversity week, they are cost-effective and they have been done very successfully in Sweden and Denmark. The ICW in Grange Castle West is being used as a water runoff treatment, but I was out there recently and it is great to see the native animals now using it as their home. It is great to see a solution to wastewater then benefiting nature. It is killing two birds with one stone, or rather the surviving of two birds with one stone.
I take that on board. What we have always said is that property rights are enshrined in the Constitution and farmers, as owners of the land, have rights there. Where they are supported to do so and the income is there for them to support their farming activity, they have proven themselves to be very adaptable. Farming is changing. Farming changes. It is very different today from what it was a generation ago, when my parents farmed, and it will be again when my children are farming. It will be a very different scenario and we are adopting all those sustainability credentials, taking on all the opportunities that provides. As I said, I have seen it from the trade perspective. Our pasture-based system here is unique and is a unique selling point for us. As regards the sustainability credentials of what we are doing, farmers can do more than one thing at the one time. We are producing top-quality food that is a very important source of income for them, our country and our rural economy. At the same time, we will be reducing emissions three years in a row, we see an improvement in water quality and an improvement in biodiversity, and farmers continue to work in that regard because they can do more than one thing at the one time.
125. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to provide an update on his Department's recent discussions with the TB forum to address the increase in the incidence of tuberculosis on Irish farms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25612/25]
Will the Minister provide an update on the Department’s recent discussions with the TB forum to address the increase in the incidence of tuberculosis on farms?
I thank Deputy Burke for raising this very important issue. I know it is a cause of great concern. Even if I had not been engaging with farm organisations since I got this role on the area of TB and if I had not been pointing to the fact I need a new approach to the TB programme, which I would like to do through consensus, there is that concern with farmers already. The concern at the rise in the incidence of TB is palpable among farmers. Those who have it on their farms are very stressed and want a clear pathway out of their current restrictions, while those who do not have it do not want to get it and are very much afraid the rising incidence means they will get it.
Bovine TB is a challenging disease to control and eradicate. In recent years, bovine TB levels have continued to deteriorate. Herd incidence has increased from 4.31% in 2022 to 6.04% in 2024, resulting in a 36% increase in the number of herds restricted between those two years.
As of 11 May, over a 12-month period we had a herd incidence of 6.3% with more than 42,200 reactors. This disease is having an impact on farmers and their families both financially and emotionally throughout rural Ireland. At the February meeting of the TB forum, it was agreed that all stakeholders would provide proposals on new measures for inclusion in the TB programme aimed at reducing TB levels in cattle against the backdrop of surging disease levels. The TB forum met on 26 March, at which representatives presented their proposals for measures aimed at reducing the high levels of TB. The chair of the TB forum wrote to me following this meeting outlining discussions at the meeting. On 8 May, I held a TB summit to address the deteriorating TB disease levels with key stakeholders at which discussions were held on the most effective ways to mitigate the impact of bovine TB on farm families and to reduce herd incidence and spread of the disease.
I have outlined on the record that I have 30 proposed actions across five key pillars. My approach is to try to get consensus. We will meet farm organisations and stakeholders again later this week. We cannot do business as usual, such are the numbers. We want to work together to ease this burden on farmers and the stress as well as the financial impact on them.
I thank the Minister. As I outlined and as the Minister said, between 2022 and 2024, there was a 36% increase in herds restricted. That is a huge increase. More than 6,000 farmers have lost 40,000 productive animals within a short period. The breakout of TB has a huge effect, especially in my area, a lot of which is urban but is also rural, where there are large dairy farms. When TB hits a dairy farm, the level of restriction that has to be put in place and the economic and emotional effect on a family are horrendous. Recently, I saw figures of farmers losing about €130 million in real terms because of the TB problem. As the Department is putting in more than €100 million, there is a huge loss to both the State and the people directly involved.
There absolutely is. There is also the emotional impact and trauma, which I would not underestimate. I remember when we had a reactor at home on the farm in Kildare in the 1990s when I was still in school and the devastation of seeing that cow and that reactor go. It stayed with me for a long time afterwards. I want to do two things. I want to provide a clear pathway to those directly impacted by this disease where they can see light at the end of the tunnel. Many say to me they do not have that sense; there is a sense of hopelessness right now. That is not a good place for anyone to be in. Second, I want to avoid the 94% of farmers not affected by bovine TB, besides having to do an annual herd test, having to get this. We would greatly reduce the number of farms, farm families and herds impacted and, therefore, the number of reactors. The Deputy highlighted the key numbers. By working together we can do this if we follow the science. There are three causes of that infection. We have to deal with all three elements.
The Minister outlined the challenges for families. The big problem is when a large number of stock animals have to be disposed of. Farmers then have the problem of trying to build back up that herd, especially in dairy farming. The time and cost of that are huge. The important issue is how to bring down the numbers affected and how to deal with this in real terms. We have had the TB testing scheme for a long number of years. It is unfortunate we are seeing a rise rather than a reduction. We must give priority to this issue over the next three to four years.
I agree. The Deputy spoke about the investment from my Department. It will take increased investment in the short term to try to get on top of this issue. I am willing to do that in order to prioritise. There are three key drivers of the infection: the role of wildlife, cattle-to-cattle transmission and the residual element left in herds that had a significant breakdown. My five-point plan includes supporting herds free of bovine TB to remain free; reducing the impact of wildlife on the spread of bovine TB; detecting and eliminating bovine TB infection as early as possible in a TB breakdown to avoid future breakdowns; and helping farmers to improve all areas of on-farm biosecurity. There are simple measures that can greatly reduce, statistically, the risk of the spread of infection. The final point is reducing the impact of known high-risk animals in spreading bovine TB. If we follow the science, we can make a significant difference and greatly reduce the number of people directly impacted and the economic impact that is so devastating for our farmers and farm families. I would love to be able to do that with consensus of the key stakeholders I will meet later this week.
128. Deputy Albert Dolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason for the delay in payments under ACRES; when the issues are expected to be resolved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25678/25]
Not a week goes by in which I do not have a farmer in east Galway contacting my office regarding the delays to agri-climate rural environmental scheme, ACRES, payments. What has gone so wrong with ACRES payments? Why has there been such a delay? What lessons will be learned to ensure this does not happen again?
As the Deputy will be aware, ACRES is the flagship environmental scheme provided under the CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027 with €1.5 billion in Exchequer and EU funding allocated over the course of the scheme. Payments in respect of farmers' participation in the ACRES scheme continue to issue on a weekly basis as cases pass all validation checks. Last week, I announced that balancing payments in respect of the 2024 scheme year have commenced with more than €33 million issuing to 42,444 participants. A total of €490 million has issued since ACRES payments commenced at the end of 2023. However, I am acutely aware that others are still awaiting payments. This is a source of great frustration for me. I have been dealing with it since the minute I assumed this role. In the case of the 2023 scheme year, 97% of participants have been paid in full. As regards 2024, 90% of participants have received their advance payments and almost 88% of these have now received a balancing payment. To be clear, my Department is committed to resolving the issues that have been delaying the remaining payments as soon as possible and is making progress in this regard. I know that is cold comfort if you are one of the few who still have not been sorted. We have made significant progress and built momentum, which I continue to do.
I had the fortunate opportunity to study at Mountbellew Agricultural College over the past two years for my level 5 and level 6 qualifications. I met many young farmers who want to get involved in their family farms and to be part of the farming future of Ireland but we have to bring them with us. We have to show them that if they sign up for a scheme that will commit to paying them X amount, they need to be assured of payment on time. In no other profession would people accept delayed payment. I know the Minister is working through it and the Department is making inroads.
When I assumed this role, it was not acceptable to me to meet so many farmers where in many instances, the fault was with the Department. In some instances, it was with themselves for various reasons but in the majority of cases, it has been on our side. I have visited Johnstown Castle and have engaged directly with the officials. I have directed additional resources into the units. I have got down into the detail of the different cohorts and how they are affected. One reason it takes time to fix this is that I am not willing to have a quick fix that needs a manual intervention every year. I want to make sure that the resolution here means that this problem does not recur every year. That is why we are getting through this and I stick to the commitments I made previously to resolve this as quickly as possible.
