Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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443. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department is looking into actions to mitigate the damage caused by adverse weather events (hail) in Wexford in June 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56081/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department monitors the impact of weather on agriculture and farming both nationally and regionally on an ongoing basis. While I empathise with farmers whose crops were damaged by the extreme weather event that occurred in June 2023, my Department is not planning any specific actions to mitigate the localised damage. As the Deputy is aware, these extreme weather events are unfortunately becoming more frequent as a result of climate change.

In the most recent CAP reform proposals, there was the option to allocate some funding towards mutual insurance type schemes to provide cover for weather damage. However, there was little support for this proposal from stakeholders at the time and it was not included in the agreed CAP Strategic Plan.

However, I have significantly increased the number of specific supports that my Department operates for the tillage sector generally. These include TAMS investment support for tillage farmers, the Protein Aid Scheme, the Straw Incorporation Measure and the Tillage Incentive Scheme.