Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Carthy for his points and questions. I agree, and I acknowledge the cross-party consensus on farm safety. We all want to see success in this area and it is one of those issues where political differences remain outside the door because we are all in the same boat. We all know of families in our constituencies that have been impacted by farm safety incidents. I assure the Deputy that this allocation of €2 million is new funding. It is dedicated and ring-fenced, as I said previously. It is not the only money that we spend in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in this area, but I was seeking a fund which would have some discretionary aspects to allow for the possibility, if we come across initiatives - I have seen examples during the last year - that are worthwhile and effective and that we would like to support, of being able to support the farming community to undertake such endeavours on a larger scale. This is the opportunity we have now with this funding.

Equally, people might come to us with more ideas for support if they are aware that such a fund exists for possible initiatives. We must of course have due oversight of how this money is spent and ensure that there are proper checks and balances because this is taxpayers' funding. It is new money, though, and how it can be spent is a blank canvas. I will add as well that when I talk about farm safety that I am also incorporating farmers' well-being and mental health. Those aspects are inextricably linked with farm safety. I feel strongly that these elements are also an important part of this initiative and I am open to hearing ideas in that regard, including from members of the committee if they see opportunities, ideas or initiatives that they feel should be supported. We can look at and analyse those possibilities to explore how the provision of funding might help to get them off the ground or to support existing small-scale endeavours in scaling up.