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

I welcome our guests here today. I spoke previously about the difficulties many farmers have. I was in organic farming for 20 years until last year when my son took over and he is involved in it now. The organic scheme has not moved in the 20 years I was farming. It is stagnant. Farmers are getting very poor payments. They are only doing it for the love of being organic. There is a strict criterion in place but that is not an issue with any farmer. They get inspected on the farm once every 12 months. It costs roughly €600 to have a licence. If a farmer is on about 70 acres with €2,500 taken in payments, he or she would be lucky to have €1,000 profit - if we want to call it profit - a year.

I know the witnesses are in the governing bodies, which are over organic farming, but have they any connections with the Department to see if organic farming can be progressed from where it is at present and to encourage people to come into it? We spoke about the 225 people who, in 2018, went to great lengths and costs to register as organic farmers but 110 of those did not get in. Some 63 went into organic conversion thinking they would be certified organic but failed to do so. Things have not got better. We have the Green Party in government now and things should get better. I come at this issue from the perspective of having been an organic farmer, and proud to have been one, but it is not for profit. It is for the love of the land that most farmers are doing it now.

Could the two organisations get involved in the sale of animals for farmers and be active in that? For many farmers in rural areas, there is no sale for their cattle. There is no point in telling them that there is a sale elsewhere in the country because they cannot take cattle 150 km to 200 km to be sold. Could the organisations organise with the marts so that there could be a mart in every area once every two to three months when it is time to sell cattle? There needs to be some movement here. I am worn in the tooth from saying this. Working with organisations and looking at the poor grant payments and the criteria, one will soon have to become some kind of a professor to become an organic farmer. That is not the way it should be. Farmers are a protector of their lands and most of them love their land and will protect it. They deserve the right to be organic, if they want to be in organic farming. They do not need to be doing courses. Of course, they need to be advised but it is not paying them. Can the witnesses shed any light on this? Do they see this moving in a different direction from where it is at this stage?