Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish the Chairman and Vice Chairman the very best in their new roles. I am delighted to welcome the Minister to the committee and to wish him well in his brief.

I have several issues to raise. We have a new Government which we are told is a green Government. My first question relates to the organic sector and the fact that organic farming is, in effect, closed to small farmers. The scheme has been open for the past two years but from speaking to farmers, most of them have had their applications turned down. At a time when farmers are finding it difficult to survive, schemes like this offered a lifeline. Farmers are advised to apply for such schemes but, in this case, the door has been bolted tight. With the Green Party in government, I expect there will be a strong focus on this issue in the time ahead.

We have spoken in the past about the REP scheme. Has the Minister any timeline as to when a new scheme will be delivered? Will it be very much like GLAS or will we see a return to the original REP scheme, which was highly praised and was very beneficial to rural areas in terms of cleaning up areas and tidying up farms?

I would like to know the Minister's views on the Mercosur deal. It will be a bad deal for this country if it goes ahead in any shape or form.

The Minister said there is 20% of funding left under the CAP scheme for Ireland. I would like to know where that will be spent and whether there can be a refocusing on the old Leader programme. Are we ever going to return to a situation where local rural communities get funding and serious benefit out of the Leader programme? We should refocus on that, especially in the context of the new CAP.

On the meat factories, we do not want to see any of them shutting down but we certainly do not want to see any of the staff getting Covid while working there. Is rapid testing being done in the factories? I would like to see some supports for staff accommodation. That is an important issue because there are often several workers living in the same house, which could lead to a very serious situation.

In regard to fishing, the Minister referred in his opening statement to the tie-up scheme for fishing vessels. That scheme was very poorly received by the fishing industry. I read last week that if every vessel owner applied to get work done under it, there would be only €140 available per vessel. That tells us how poorly the scheme was executed. In regard to Brexit, what rights will Irish trawlers have in British waters after 1 January next year? Is there a possibility that foreign vessels leaving British waters will start to flood Irish waters? That is a very serious worry for the fishing industry. Can amendments be made to the statutory instrument that was recently signed by the Taoiseach, even at this stage?