Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 October 2024
482. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the full-year cost of all organic sector supports in 2024 and 2025, in tabular form; and the breakdown per scheme. [41040/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department is committed to meeting our target of 10% of all agricultural land being farmed organically by 2030.
There has been a very strong uptake of the Organic Farming Scheme over the last three years, most recently in December 2023, when a further 1,000 farmers joined the Scheme. This means that, this year, there will be approximately 5,000 organic farmers in Ireland farming approximately 5% of the land. A key element of this is providing the infrastructure and support to both those farmers looking to convert to organic and those who have already converted.
Outlined in the below tables are the expenditure allocations for 2024 and the budget for 2025 for all organic sector supports:
|
Scheme |
2024 |
2025 |
|
Organic Processing Investment Grant |
€1.5 million |
€3.5 million |
|
Organic Farming Scheme |
€57 million |
€67 million |
|
Subvention to certification bodies for farm Inspections |
€900,000 |
€1 million |
|
Development of the Organic Sector |
€500,000 |
€1 million |
In addition, the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS) supports organic farmers at a grant rate of 60%. To date,over €1.8 million has been paid in grant aid under the Organic Capital Investment Scheme of TAMS 3 in 2024.
