I thank the Deputy for raising a really important point. When I reflect on the key things throughout my term in this position, different issues will come up to be dealt with from day to day but I have always been clear there are a number of big things I will ultimately be judged on. Last year, nitrates was the key headline figure that you could never take your eye off. Throughout that time, I was building relationships with colleagues across the AGRIFISH Council in preparation for our Presidency at a time when CAP reform will be coming. It was a key part of preparing for CAP as well. Generational renewal is in that mix too; it is central to everything we are doing and a key part of this CAP. In July 2025, the European Commission published its legislative proposals for the post-2027 CAP as a chapter of the proposed national and regional partnership plan framework. Negotiations on the CAP regulation are ongoing at EU level through Council working parties, the Special Committee on Agriculture, and the Agriculture and Fisheries Council of Ministers. I have been engaged actively throughout these negotiations and we are preparing for Ireland's role during our Presidency in the second half of 2026. We continue to carefully examine the Commission’s proposals relating to the future structure of direct payments and income supports, including the proposals on pensions. The proposals suggest that member states should exclude farmers in receipt of a pension from direct payments by 2032. This proposal has caused significant worry and concern among older farmers, understandably. I assure farmers that I share their concerns, and I, along with some other member state counterparts, have raised those concerns at the Council of Ministers. My focus in negotiations will be to ensure that Ireland retains sufficient flexibility to design a CAP programme that reflects the realities of Irish farming and supports family farms.
Sentiment score: 0.28
I take those points of view on board. It is important to bear in mind and to explain to the public the process this goes through. There are three legs to the stool in terms of CAP and overall EU policy. The Commission puts forward the proposals around the CAP. The Council of agri ministers, of which I am a member and which I will chair when we have the Presidency from July to the end of the year, involves each of the 27 Ministers for agriculture and fisheries. In that AGRIFISH Council, we will agree our position, which will not be exactly the same and will be counter to some of the Commission's proposals. The Parliament is finalising its position with MEPs. When those three come together in trilogues next year, we will thrash this out. The Commission has proposed this measure around retirement. I have a different view and am building alliances with the other Ministers for agriculture that have a different view as well. It is the same with part-time farming. The approach to the active farmer proposed by the Commission is not one I agree with.
Sentiment score: 0.08
The Deputy's points around generational renewal are very valid. We need to make sure that we have fairness and a balanced distribution of supports across the board. We want to learn from the mistakes of the past. The old retirement scheme was a mistake. It banished older experienced farmers from farms completely and replaced them with newer farmers. There needs to be a partnership approach. I know from my family circumstances at home down through the years that , the corporate knowledge the older farmer had was really important as was the value they had to bring to the farming enterprise. In regard to part-time farming, approximately 43% of farmers in Ireland are classified as part time. Part-time farmers are central to the structure and sustainability of Irish agriculture. No final decisions have been made on the future definition of "farmer" in the next CAP. We need to make sure that our approach involves fairness and balance and that any future model is workable in practice and will not disproportionately impact productive farms or undermine food production capacity and farm viability. At the heart of this, what I will be able to do is fight for maximum flexibility and for the maximum budget as well. If we do not have the latter, it will really curtail what we can do.
Sentiment score: 0.03
I thank the Deputy for asking this question. I reassure him that specialist horticulture has not been forgotten. The Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, and I have mentioned it when we talked about fuel support and securing the €100 million package. We talked about farmers, farm contractors, fishers, forestry and specialist horticulture. That will form a part of this support package. It is different because the producers do not use marked gas oil as the Deputy outlined in his question. After what has been a tumultuous couple of months, I reflect on the fact that this is the only question on the fuel support schemes during the hour and a half we have this morning, which I will take as an indication that the interventions we have made have been significant and impactful. The Irish horticulture industry is an important economic sector in Ireland, with a farm-gate value of over €600 million. It contains a diverse range of sectors, including mushrooms, potatoes, field vegetables, protected fruit, protected vegetables, outdoor fruit and amenity crops. I fully recognise the impact of the Middle East crisis on the sector and, in particular, certain subsectors within it. Indeed, the announcement on 12 of April of a fuel support scheme made specific reference to the horticulture sector, as I have outlined. This fuel support scheme will provide supports equivalent to 20 cent per litre to farmers and contractors to offset increased costs in marked gas oil. Payments will be made through a single application process with funding allocated based on green diesel usage in 2025. The main fuel used by growers of field vegetables, field salad crops, field-grown fruit and top fruit is marked gas oil, or green diesel, and these growers are eligible to apply. Unlike other horticulture subsectors, the protected crop sector is dependent on natural gas and liquified petroleum gas, LPG, the cost of which has also increased significantly since March. Recognising this, my Department has engaged with relevant stakeholders to develop supports for this specialist sector within horticulture, within the framework of the Middle East crisis state aid framework and within the total budget of €100 million that I secured for agriculture and fisheries supports in April.
Sentiment score: 0.37
I agree with the Deputy that it is a very important sector. It is more important than just for the Deputy's constituency in north County Dublin. It is really important to the overall ecosystem of how our food is produced. It is a sector that is feeling real pressure, and I recognise that. It is a sector that has become quite marginalised and narrowed down and pressure from very large retailers has made it a very difficult space for people in the horticulture sector to be in. I and my Department are absolutely determined to support it, protect it and make sure it is thriving and viable into the future. In the context of the changes I made around the Agri-Food Regulator and so forth, what was in my mind throughout all that time was that horticulturists are the most vulnerable in the sector. The extra powers and increased funding I was able to give the Agri-Food Regulator last year were to support those sectors that are the most vulnerable and the likes of that. I will also be meeting with representatives of the sector later this month to go through what is possible in terms of that element of the fuel support scheme, to support them in light of the small few who are dependent on natural gas and LPG.
Sentiment score: 0.26
Because of the importance of the horticulture sector, and specialist horticulture in particular, my Department already provides significant support measures to the Irish horticulture industry through a range of initiatives. We provided €15.7 million in supports to the sector in 2025, excluding supports under basic income support for sustainability, BISS, targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMs, and organics. In addition, the protected crop sector can benefit from carbon tax relief for natural gas and LPG usage. These measures recognise the continued Government support for the development of this important sector. I am committed to seeing this sector grow and flourish in the years ahead for the reasons outlined. I look forward to meeting the representatives later this month on those specific supports. It is not always just about money; it is about the structural support as well and that is why the extra powers we gave to the Agri-Food Regulator were very much with the likes of this vulnerable sector in mind. That we protect that position of the primary producer in that relationship between the producer, the processor and the retailer.
Sentiment score: 0.58
I thank Deputy Cooney for raising what is a significant issue, not just for farmers in County Clare but also for their counterparts across the country. The straight answer to a straight question is that I do believe eradication of TB is possible and is something that can be delivered. However, there was no way it was going to be delivered by means of the trajectory we were on up until last year, when we were seeing an exponential growth in numbers of reactors and herds impacted. The definition of madness is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. I was not willing to do that, which is why I spent all of last year engaging with farm stakeholders, representative bodies, vets, professionals throughout the industry and my officials to draw up a new plan based on science and to have that clear intervention that would give a very clear roadmap for those farmers in a perpetual cycle of bovine TB outbreaks and reactors who see no light at the end of the tunnel. A total of 94% or 95% of farmers who were free of bovine TB were petrified before the annual test every year and were hoping to avoid the disease. The new TB plan gives us the opportunity to move the dial, turn the tide, stop this significant increase and get it on that trajectory where we can get back to talking about eradication with real credibility. That is what I have sought to do here. Regarding the TB herd incidents in County Clare, on a 12-month rolling basis as of 3 May this year, it has reduced by 4.2% in County Clare compared with 4.34% at the same time last year. This compares well with the national TB herd incidence, which has also shown a reduction on a 12-month rolling basis. As of 3 May, it stood at 5.4% nationally. Obviously, Clare is 1.2% lower than that. The 5.4% nationally compares with 6.29% at the same time the last year. Bovine TB is an ongoing challenge for Irish farmers. I am acutely aware of the emotional and financial stress it causes farmers, farm families and rural Ireland, which is why we are imposing the various measures.
Sentiment score: 0.09
Budget 2026 provided an increased budget for the TB programme, with a record €157 million allocated for this reason in 2026. This will allow the TB programme to focus on driving down the disease through the implementation of measures laid out in my new bovine TB action plan. It will support and enable farm families who are currently dealing with the stress of a TB outbreak to navigate a way out of a TB restriction and protect those herds currently free from bovine TB to remain free. The objective of the new measures in the bovine TB action plan is to reduce the number of farms affected and decrease the costs for all stakeholders. My Department provides a range of financial supports that focus on compensating farmers for both direct and indirect losses incurred as a result of a TB breakdown on the farm. The primary support scheme is the on-farm market valuation scheme, where animals removed as reactors are subject to compensation, subject to scheme ceilings equivalent to their market value in the event they were not disclosed as TB reactors. In 2025, of the 40,583 animals valued under the on-farm market valuation scheme, just under 90% of animals were valued below the scheme ceilings.
Sentiment score: 0.36
I understand the points the Deputy has made and the frustration he has expressed on behalf of his constituents. I would love not to have that ceiling in place; I would love the freedom to be able to operate outside of that. Market prices of animals continue to be monitored. However, the focus at present is on reducing the levels of disease, which will reduce the impact of bovine TB on Irish farm families and reduce the cost of the programme, which rose to over €121 million in 2025. The only reason I got sanction for the extra money in my budget negotiations was because that money was to drive down the incidence rate and the disease. I did not get extra money for extra compensation. That is beyond the ceilings that are there. However, we continue to monitor this. It is something I would like to be able to move on in time, but I do not have the ability to do that right now. In addition to the compensation package for eligible reactor animals that are removed during a TB breakdown, my Department operates three supplementary schemes that assist farmers with the indirect losses incurred as a result of a breakdown on the farm. These include an income supplement scheme, a depopulation grant scheme and the hardship grant scheme. We also have a financial working group, through which we have seen over the past two years rate enhancements to the income supplement scheme, the hardship grant and the depopulation grant, as well as enhanced ceilings for select animals being removed as part of the on-farm market valuation.
Sentiment score: 0.07