I propose to take Questions Nos. 83 and 113 together. The European Commission published its legislative proposals for the post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy in July last year, as part of its wider proposals for the next multi-annual financial framework, MFF, covering the period 2028-2034. Discussions on these proposals are currently ongoing at EU level. Under the Denmark Presidency and the Cyprus Presidency the proposed CAP regulation has a number of thematic blocks in order to facilitate a structural examination of the proposals by the expert working group. However, an important issue under discussion currently concerns the transfer of CAP-specific provisions from the proposed national and regional partnership plan, NRPP, regulation and into the CAP regulation itself. This issue has been raised by several member states and the European Parliament to ensure CAP provisions are clearly reflected in the CAP legal framework. The Cyprus Presidency has indicated it wishes to progress work on this matter as soon as possible. A revised text incorporating the transferred provisions has recently been circulated to member states and is currently under examination by the relevant Council working party. The progress in agreeing the revised text will influence the next phase of discussions under the Cyprus Presidency and will ultimately determine the stage the file has reached when Ireland takes over the EU Presidency in July. While this work is taking place at working-party level, I engage very regularly with my counterparts from other member states on the CAP negotiations. In addition to monthly meetings of the Agri-Fish Council and informal contacts, I engage with other member states and ministers in bilateral meetings on a very regular basis. A recent example was my meeting with the Minister of Agriculture from Czechia, who was recently appointed to the Agri-Fish Council, en marge of the Agri-Fish Council meeting in February. I also welcomed the Finnish Minister for Agriculture and Forestry to Ireland in early March. The Ministers of State, Deputies Dooley and Michael Healy-Rae, and I engaged with her and her officials on our relevant portfolios. These engagements provide valuable opportunities to exchange views on the CAP proposals, better understand the positions of other member states and identify areas of common interest as negotiations progress. Alongside these ministerial engagements, my Department is in regular contact with the counterparts across member states and with the European Commission as part of the ongoing work on the CAP proposals. Working collaboratively with my EU counterparts, European Commissioner Christophe Hansen and the European Parliament, towards a robust and workable CAP framework is an absolute priority for me and the Department in the time ahead. Deputy Kenny is right when he says big decisions have to be made. Right now, the overall fund and a properly funded CAP continues to be a top priority for all of us to fight for. The Irish Government has clearly stated this is a top priority. It is not just me saying it but the Tánaiste, the Taioseach and others have said it. Beyond that, we will have decisions to make on how best we can support our farmers with whatever the final CAP budget is and on how that CAP can best deliver. I am determined to deliver simplification and on the structures with which we do that. I have concerns about the NRPP structure and specific requirements for social cohesion and different elements. On the one hand, you could say work out of the national pot but on the other hand, you could tie your hands in terms of how much flexibility you have in that regard. We see that in terms of the additional €45 billion proposed by Ursula von der Leyen in January, how much of that we will be available to access and deliver to where we need to deliver it in comparison to other member states. These measures are all ones we are working through and when we have the Presidency, we will have to make more progress on them. As I said, generational renewal is an area of real importance. I would not agree with the changes around the mandatory pension meaning the stopping of the single farm payment. There are a lot of other measures in there by Christophe Hansen that are very ambitious around the generational renewal piece. Again, we have to work through these proposals. There needs to be more meat on the bones of them and we need to see which of them end up being permanent or mandatory and which will be optional.
Sentiment score: 0.27
I would like to join with Deputy Healy-Rae-----
Sentiment score: 0.57
To go back to Deputy Kenny's assertions regarding the changes to the definition of an "active farmer" for forestry, I back the Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae, in saying that the Deputy is wrong.
Sentiment score: -0.10
It is not only us who are saying the Deputy is wrong. The Social, Economic, Environmental Forestry Association of Ireland also says he is wrong in that it has very much welcomed these changes and said that they will help small farmers in the area of forestry and beyond. It is very easy to polarise these issues and the Deputy is dead right; I have no doubt I will be back here disagreeing with him again on other definitions. However, with regard to the next CAP, our definition of an "active farmer" will be pivotal. It will impact what we do on generational renewal and in many other spaces. We will need to have a fair and honest discussion on all of the supports and measures that are now in place. Are they delivering what we need them to? Do they in some ways act as a barrier to those who actively want to farm and drive on? The State resources employed to support farmers are very significant, as are the European resources, but we always have to ask whether they are doing what they say on the tin and whether they are best delivering on our policy objectives. I look forward to debating those points here. I am sure that, if the Deputy were to put a specific question on forestry to the Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae, he would also be happy to debate the matter. I am aware of the particular case in Waterford that Deputy McGuinness has raised. It is a bit beyond the scope of this question. The issue of single farm payments comes down to who is the active farmer. That is the position on that question. I hope a resolution can be found in the near future. On Deputy Kenny's point on generational renewal and so on, this is going to be a really challenging debate. Commissioner Hansen's proposals talk about an increase from 3% of the budget to 8%. That would be really ambitious in the context of an increased budget and a lovely thing to deliver. If we are 20% down on the last budget, it is going to be really hard to deliver. Where do you cut money from to deliver in these areas? That may be a mandatory measure. These are the things we are trying to work through. We are trying to secure the maximum amount of flexibility so that we can be sure that interventions will deliver on generational renewal while also supporting all other sides of farming.
Sentiment score: 0.20
I am sorry. I thought I had dealt with the budget point clearly. It is our top priority. While it is not just me, I raise this at every single AGRIFISH meeting and in every engagement with Commissioner Hansen and other members of the Commission. The Tánaiste also raises the issue in his role in ECOFIN, as does the Taoiseach, who is in Brussels today. In all of those budget negotiations, there is a clear understanding across the EU that the CAP budget is critically important to Ireland. We are a net contributor, which means our voice is heard when we raise these points. I am proud that we are a net contributor. We have managed to take the structural funds of the 1980s and build a country and an economy that is going well enough to allow us to contribute more than we take in. For the benefit of the entire country, including those not interested in agriculture at all, 75% of the money we get back from Europe comes through Common Agricultural Policy measures. It is therefore in the interests of every citizen in this country that we get the maximum amount back from the CAP. If we do not get it from there, there will be a deficit in what we get back as against what we put into Europe. If there is a transition period, that will also have an impact. As of now, a transition period is not planned but the timelines are very tight to have a whole new CAP in place and ready to go for the beginning of January 2028. If the Commission decides down the line to have a transition period, Ireland has good experience in that space and we will try to help design that during our Presidency. Having certainty in this space and flexibility to bring in targeted measures to deliver on our policy objectives while not undermining the commonality of the Common Agricultural Policy is a balancing act that we have to get right here. I look forward to continuing to engage with colleagues, particularly in the context of Ireland holding the Presidency of the EU from July until the end of the year. It will be a pivotal time for us, particularly with regard to the negotiations on the MFF. What happens there will directly impact farmers through the Common Agricultural Policy.
Sentiment score: 0.25
I thank Deputy O'Hara for raising the important matter of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement. The Government has been very clear about Ireland’s concerns in relation to the EU-Mercosur agreement and has expressed these consistently over a number of years, particularly in relation to the agreement's potential impact on the beef sector, the strength of its climate and sustainability commitments, and the production standards enforced by Mercosur countries. Since I took up the role of Minister in January of last year, I have met with like-minded EU counterparts to discuss these concerns. I have also raised them at every opportunity at the monthly AGRIFISH Council meetings in Brussels, at the extraordinary EU agriculture ministers’ meeting with Commissioners Hansen, Šefčovič and Várhelyi in January 2026, and in bilateral meetings with EU counterparts at the recent Global Forum for Food and Agriculture in Berlin, which was also in January. I note the decision by the European Commission to move ahead with the provisional application of the EU-Mercosur interim trade agreement. The Government’s focus is on ensuring rigorous monitoring by the Commission of the agreement’s market impacts and the robust enforcement, where necessary, by the Commission of the provisions of the recently agreed safeguards regulation. The Government will also engage closely with the Commission and with other like-minded EU member states to ensure follow-through on additional commitments in relation to food safety and environmental standards as well as the agreement's stated intention to better align the production standards of imported products with EU production standards, particularly with regard to pesticides and animal welfare. All of this work will be crucial to addressing the concerns of our farmers and our consumers. Some of these additional commitments were given by Commissioner Várhelyi at that special meeting in January, which I attended and where I raised and pushed those points with the Commissioner. Those safeguards that have been put in place are absolutely and critically important. We could never stop this on our own but we have worked with like-minded countries to build a bloc to do so. At the same time, as part of a twin-track approach, we have always pushed for the maximum amount of safeguarding measures to reassure our consumers and farmers should the agreement come into operation.
Sentiment score: 0.51
I can go back over all of the times I have raised my opposition to the Mercosur deal in the AGRIFISH Council and in bilateral meetings. I have also been very frank and clear on that in my public utterances, on the floor of this House, in Brussels and in media interviews I have done on the issue. An element of the Deputy's question should be directed towards the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. This is a broader Government issue and trade deals are not decided by the Minister for agriculture, although I do speak up when they impact on agriculture and beyond. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, has responsibility for trade across all the different trade agreements, of which there are many, and which, by and large, Irish farming and Irish farmers benefit greatly from. We export 90% of the food and drink we produce, and those markets are really important. However, we will always have defensive interests as well as offensive interests when it comes to trade agreements and that is why we fought to raise our concerns regarding the Mercosur trade agreement, but also to say that, should it come to pass, those safeguards are so important. Getting the threshold for safeguard measures dropped from a 10% increase in import volume to a 5% increase, as well as the reduced 5% threshold for individual member states to trigger an intervention, are very significant changes that were fought for and measures like those are key to have in place.
Sentiment score: 0.38
Before I talk about anything I am doing next, the first thing I have to do is to counter what the Deputy just said on the floor of this House. It is complete false. I have been clear on this issue. At a meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels on 27 January 2025, when I was four days into the job, I spoke about how I was opposed to the Mercosur trade deal and articulated that perspective very clearly. There were meetings on 24 February 2025 and 24 March 2025. On 23 June 2025, there was a meeting in Luxembourg. There were also meetings on 22 and 23 September 2025 and 17 November 2025 and the extraordinary meeting on 7 January this year as well. That is in addition to the bilateral meetings I had on a number of occasions with my counterpart, Annie Genevard, the French minister for agriculture. I met Francesco Lollobrigida, the Italian minister for agriculture, on a number of occasions to discuss this issue. I also met with ministers of agriculture from Poland, Austria, Cyprus, Latvia, Slovakia, Austria and many other countries that had, for a variety of reasons, expressed concerns. We engaged with them and worked all the way through. We worked to the very last point to get the maximum amount of leverage to see if we could build that bloc. We also pushed on the safeguards. No country would make a final decision that far out if it wanted to keep the maximum pressure on for the safeguards in the event that we failed to have a blocking minority. We crystalised our decisions on the last day and that was absolutely the right strategic approach because we got the 10% down to 5%; we got the changes on the safeguards should we fail to meet the blocking minority. We always knew that we could not do this on our own. Population-wise and member state-wise, we knew that would not be able to make that contribution. It was a very strategic approach.
Sentiment score: 0.04
I join with Deputy O'Shea in extending my sympathies to Deputy Burke and his family on the passing of his mother-in-law. Gender equality in agriculture is a priority of mine and it is included in the programme for Government. Food Vision 2030 also recognises the importance of gender balance to the long-term sustainable future of the sector and committed to holding a national dialogue on women in agriculture. The dialogue, which took place in 2023, explored gender equality across the sector, with the outcomes and recommendations informing a report and national action plan which was launched in 2024. A working group was established to oversee its implementation, which is nearing completion. The group has delivered a winter webinar series to increase knowledge and awareness of my Department’s schemes, access to finance, agri-taxation, succession planning and social protection. This follows a number of in-person leadership and networking events nationwide last year. The group established an annual women in agriculture studies excellence sward, in association with the UCD school of agriculture and food science. Sponsored by my Department, it recognises academic merit and commitment to gender inclusivity among female students. A review of my Department’s schemes was completed to ensure language, terms and conditions and eligibility criteria do not present any unintended barriers to female farmer participation. It has informed an internal guidance note and checklist to assist in the design of future scheme documentation to ensure best practice. A review of the herd number application process was also undertaken and updated guidance documents, application forms and standard operating procedures have been implemented, ensuring greater consistency and ease of use. A women in agriculture webpage was created as a centralised point of information for, and promotion of, women involved in Irish agriculture. Promoting the role of women in sustainability, the group published a "Spotlight on Female-led Sustainability" booklet, profiling and promoting women's sustainability practices in the farming, food production, forestry, marine and research fields. The specific work of this group is almost complete and an implementation report will be published later this year.
Sentiment score: 0.38
I thank the Deputy. It is timely this year because 2026 has been identified by the United Nations as the International Year of the Woman Farmer. My Department recently held a conference to launch the year in Ireland and to celebrate International Women's Day. I was delighted to announce the new International Year of the Woman Farmer ambassador, who will represent Ireland in Irish agriculture. She will raise awareness of existing supports and highlight issues that are important to women farmers. Further events for the International Year of the Woman Farmer will be held throughout the year. The calibre of applicants for that ambassador role was really impressive, as was the debate that took place on the day of the conference in Athlone. I was delighted to be able to attend and participate in part of that event. This is an issue that is close to my heart. I know the barriers that are there for female farmers. My dad died when I was eight. At the age of 43, my mother became that female farmer. That was not easy in 1986, and it is not easy today either for female farmers. We want to break those barriers. For many of the farmers who are operating on farms, their voice is not heard and their name is not seen on Department documents but they are integral part of the farming system. Those farmers are all over the country and it is about elevating them. There are a number of policy measures in the action plan, and it remains a top priority for me.
Sentiment score: 0.17
I agree with the Deputy. As he can see from my earlier response, it is not about on intervention that will change things and move the dial. It is a series of different things. When I looked at this previously when I was a Minister of State, the feedback from female farmers was that male-dominated knowledge transfer groups were a challenge. Having female-only knowledge transfer groups in certain instances has worked really well. There are lots of small, practical things we can do that can make a difference. I spent a long time in this House today talking about generational renewal. Our commission on generational renewal identified 31 barriers and challenges that we have to tackle. Gender is a significant challenge. I want to get to a space where daughters are considered every bit as much as sons when the mothers and fathers of farm families are discussing who the likely successors are. This has not been the case historically but it is where we want to get to. These changes will bring about that cultural change for the betterment of Irish agriculture.
Sentiment score: 0.15
I know how important milling is to Laois and beyond-----
Sentiment score: 0.20
As is the tillage sector. The tillage sector is an integral part of Irish farming, producing high-quality animal feed and bedding for the livestock sector and ingredients for the food and drink industry. The sector makes a significant contribution to the Irish economy, as the Deputy knows, estimated at €1.9 billion per annum over the 2018 to 2022 period. It is also important in terms of employment and is estimated to support over 11,000 full-time equivalent jobs. This Government is committed to growing the area under tillage crops in line with climate action plan targets. The Food Vision tillage group report sets out a roadmap for the sector’s growth and development, identifying key opportunities to sustainably grow the sector. Adding value to tillage crop output will be crucial to its long-term sustainability and competitiveness. The programme for Government commits to examining facilities for the processing of Irish crops and to exploring opportunities for oilseed and milling wheat processing. Additionally, a key recommendation in the Food Vision tillage report is to explore opportunities for milling wheat in Ireland. While there are opportunities to grow milling wheat in Ireland, there are also recognised agronomic and market challenges. However, with collaboration from industry and support from the marketplace, domestic production of milling wheat can play a role in providing a new value-added opportunity in the supply chain for Irish tillage farmers. In line with these commitments, my colleague the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Deputy Burke, has approved the development and implementation of a new scheme, to be administered by Enterprise Ireland, to support the establishment of flour milling projects in Ireland. Approval for the scheme was granted in January 2026. I was delighted to be able to launch it with him. It will provide capital investment support for the establishment of large scale flour mills. A total grant budget of €15 million will be made available, and it is envisaged that up to three projects could be supported. Growing that capacity on the processing side will be a real incentive for tillage farmers to look at milling wheat as a greater value-added opportunity as well.
Sentiment score: 0.48
I thought Deputy Stanley was going to break into a bar of Trudi Lalor's "Lovely Laois" for a minute. I am well aware that some of the best tillage land in the country is in Laois because it is right beside Kildare. We have it too. The Deputy has many constituents, as I have, who are dependent, who are tillage farmers and are very worried about the future. They have had three really tough years due to a mixture of bad weather, income challenges and pressures and high input costs and low margin prices. At its heart has been the fact that our tillage sector is largely reliant on world market prices. Unlike the value-added piece that we have managed to introduce on our beef and dairy products, we are not in that space in tillage. I am determined to get there. I have my €50 million supports through straw incorporation and protein aid, and the €30 million tillage sustainability scheme, which I recently launched. On top of that, it is about the value-added piece. It is about developing a quality assurance scheme for our tillage sector that delivers better value back there. It is this value-added piece that is here. In terms of the money and whether Laois is in the mix, it is up to individual companies to put themselves forward for that now. The Government has made that money available for them.
Sentiment score: 0.15
I completely concur. We should never have lost the sugar beet industry. It was a detrimental blow to those of us in south Kildare, Laois and beyond who made very good money out of the campaign every year in delivering it into Carlow, as they did in Tuam, Thurles and Mallow. I take the points regarding Alan Ahearne's report on board. It is why the Government has invested and supported Irish agriculture to the extent it has, with record amounts of funding to meet the last CAP plan. The Irish Government was not found wanting in supporting our agriculture sector in matching the European money that came in there. We will continue to do that. It is also about driving more value back into our sector and providing that value-added piece that means our tillage price is not just dealing on commodity markets. It is about being able to premiumise that, as we have seen on the beef and the dairy side. If we can add that premiumisation and increase the value in the product by the story we tell and tillage farmers' work in the area - AgNav is a good example of that - that can lead to positive impacts in the future, as will this investment.
Sentiment score: 0.28
The board of Bord Bia met on 2 March to discuss proposals to resolve the situation whereby Bord Bia’s offices were being occupied by protestors. Following that meeting the board issued an agreed statement. This statement noted that the terms of reference of an independent governance review which I had proposed were agreed by the board, and that the protest inside and outside the offices would be stood down. As agreed, my Department is now commissioning an independent review of Bord Bia’s governance framework. The review will specifically consider: the role of the board including the chair; composition, including eligibility, of the board, including the chair; the board’s terms of reference, including clarity in relation to corporate governance framework and implementation; the procedures for and management of conflicts of interest, including consideration of what constitutes a conflict of interest or a perceived conflict of interest as set out in the code of practice for the governance of State bodies; and specific governance related questions that have been raised during the current period. The consultants will engage directly with the board members and executive - the CEO and the secretary to the board - to seek their perspectives, especially in relation to governance issues that have arisen in the current period. My Department is currently engaged in a procurement process for this review, with a view to completion by the end of April. Bord Bia is also progressing a new farmers forum which I had asked it to establish on foot of a five-hour meeting I had with the six farm organisations and key stakeholders on 13 February to try to bring a resolution to this. The farmers' forum is a vehicle for us to have farmers’ input into every part. Part of the recommendation from Macra na Feirme was that the outworkings of the farmers’ forum will be a standing item at every board meeting of Bord Bia and each of the six farming organisations will get to have input into that which is a key role. It provides another option for renewed engagement between farmers and Bord Bia.
Sentiment score: 0.26
The end of April.
Sentiment score: 0.00
It will be finished by the end of April.
Sentiment score: 0.00
The reason we are talking about the end of April – which is both a very tight timeline and ambitious – is because it is something I want to bring to a conclusion. There needs to be a lot of honesty in the debate. I agree with Deputy Kenny that we need to reflect on everyone’s fiduciary duties when they sign up to a State board. A great deal of responsibility comes with that, and that applies to every member of a board, not just the chairperson. On the points about farmer representation and the farmer point of view, that will be enhanced by the establishment of the farmers' forum that I proposed at the five-hour stakeholder meeting on 13 February. The farmers' forum will provide a structured forum for two-way feedback because it is just as important that Bord Bia can feed back to farmers. It will also explain the market requirements, why quality assurance processes require certain amounts of information, how that is monetised and how it allows us to have premiumisation of their produce in the end. That is a really important part of this. We will all be strengthened from that greater collaboration.
Sentiment score: 0.41
That is it exactly. We want to move on, but we want to ensure that as we do so, there is a clear understanding of the highly integrated nature of food trade globally. We export 90% of our food and drink. It is really important that our farmers clearly understand that. The whole tenor of the debate over the five-week period focused on the 10% consumed in Ireland, understandably, because it is very important market in terms of sentiment and for Irish consumers as well. However, we cannot lose sight of the fact that Bord Bia is an international food board that provides marketing and opportunities for Irish food companies to get the best possible return. That, in turn, gives the best possible return to our farmers and it has been very successful. Coupled with our ten-year strategies in the Department, we have seen the value of Irish food exports grow from €10 billion back in 2011 to €20.8 billion last year and there has been a commensurate rise in farmers' incomes. We want to be very careful, in addressing all of these issues and concerns, that we do not undermine the very structure that is delivering real value back to our farmers.
Sentiment score: 0.54