Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to report to the House on the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and its agencies, which are responsible for 23 recommendations in the programme for Government, and on the substantive progress that has been made on virtually all of these recommendations.

My Department's actions under the programme for Government cover a wider range of activities, including achieving good outcomes from EU and international negotiations; developing the meat, dairy, food, aquaculture and sea fisheries sectors; progressing Food Harvest 2020 and specifically developing a brand image for Irish agrifood; supporting young farmers, the environment and animal welfare; and assisting integrated marine policy. I will summarise the position on each of these areas.

With regard to EU negotiations, our main priorities over the past year were to achieve financial and policy clarity on the multi-annual financial framework, MFF, and to achieve nationally desirable outcomes on the review of the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, and the Common Fisheries Policy, CFP. Deputies will recall that the EU seven-year budget was agreed last year with guaranteed funding of €1.5 billion per year for Ireland. The CAP agreement was delivered under the Irish Presidency in June. It was hugely significant and provides a sound policy framework for the sustainable development of the agriculture sector up to 2020 and beyond. The key aspects of the reformed CAP are as follows. There is a continuation of a redeveloped single farm payment system which benefits active farmers, supports farm incomes and provides a direct payment ceiling for Ireland of over €1.2 billion per year. The system agreed included an option of a partial convergence model. This was developed by the Irish Presidency and agreed by the Commission, and in our view it provides for a fairer and more equitable system than that originally proposed by the Commission. In 2013, more than €1.18 billion was paid on foot of almost 130,000 applications under the single farm payment scheme and a further €200 million under the disadvantaged areas scheme. There is a new rural development regulation which sets the parameters for Ireland's rural development programme, greater market orientation allied to safety net provisions in case of severe market disturbance, and flexibility for member states to adapt policy measures to deal with specific challenges.

Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy was also secured during the Irish Presidency. This included higher fish quotas, the retention of fish quotas as a public asset and the phasing out of fish discards at sea. Political agreement on the common organisation of the markets regulation was also reached. Both initiatives placed sustainability at the core of fisheries policy and strengthened the competitiveness of the EU industry. Quotas of 270,000 tonnes were secured for Irish fishermen for 2014. This is worth €260 million to the fishing industry and is an increase of 2% on last year.

Further major initiatives are planned under the new rural development programme. Approximately €4 billion in national and EU funding will be made available under this programme for rural development over the seven-year period. A draft programme has already been developed. This has a strong emphasis on sustainability and is also strategically aligned with the Food Harvest 2020 environmental assessment report.

The Department is assessing the many submissions received under the recent public consultation process, and our intention is to submit the final draft to the European Commission by the end of June. Proposals under consideration include a substantial new agri-environment and climate scheme, GLAS; continued strong support for disadvantaged areas; incentives for on-farm capital investment; knowledge transfer and innovation measures; and a new beef data and genomics measure.

Internationally, on foot of technical and diplomatic activities, ministerial-led trade missions and extensive trade negotiations, a series of valuable new market and trade outlets for Irish produce were gained in 2013. These include the first steps in opening of the US market to EU beef; opening the prestigious Japanese market to Irish beef, which will be worth approximately €12 million to €15 million annually; opening the UAE market for sheepmeat; opening the Libyan market for livestock; opening the Australian market for pigmeat; opening the Iranian market for beef; opening the Canadian market for sheepmeat; opening the Chinese market for salmon; and being permitted access to the Russian market for meat products previously excluded.

In 2014 we will build on these achievements. Expansion and innovation in the meat, dairy, food, aquaculture and sea fisheries sectors are key priorities for Food Harvest 2020. In preparation for the dairy-quota-free environment, the Department is providing a range of supports to assist farmers to exploit fully their potential for expansion and development. Dairy supports encompass the new entrants to dairying scheme and the dairy efficiency and development programmes, which are designed to encourage the adoption of best practice management and production methods on Irish farms.

Beef farmers are assisted by the beef technology adoption programme, BTAP, the suckler cow welfare scheme, the beef data programme and the BETTER farm programme. All of these schemes are geared towards improving the performance of beef enterprises by sharing knowledge, improving breeding data, and expanding expertise, technical and financial advice. In 2013, €10 million was provided for the beef data programme and 6,200 farmers received payments amounting to €5.1 million under the 2013 BTAP programme. In addition, the new 2014 beef genomics scheme, with a budget of €23 million, will improve the quality of suckler calves in participating herds and will develop a training population to allow for further genetic improvements in the national beef herd.

On the processing side, the dairy sector has already planned for increased processing capacity post-2015 and key global players, in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland, are committing to significant new capital investments. To plan for a 60% increase in milk production, Glanbia has committed to a €150 million capital investment in a new major dairy processing unit; Dairygold is investing in its Mitchelstown plant and is proposing a €90 million investment for a new dryer in Mallow; and Kerry Co-op is developing its Charleville plant to enhance its infant formula project with Beingmate, its Chinese partner. In addition, the Irish Dairy Board announced a €20 million investment in a Saudi dairy company and Kerry Foods has opened a new development centre to cater for specific customer tastes in the Middle East. Both of these projects will lead to increased exports of Irish milk powders.

The food industry's contribution to the Irish economy is very significant, as more than three quarters of its expenditure is on Irish goods and services. It will deal with unemployment issues throughout rural Ireland. We have taken a strong stand on all aspects of agriculture, including organic and green farming and supporting young farmers throughout the country. I am very pleased to support what the Government is doing with regard to harnessing the potential of rural Ireland, particularly with regard to food and agriculture.

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