Ms Louise Byrne:

I thank the Chairperson and committee members for the invitation to speak to the committee today on challenges facing the fruit and vegetable industry in Ireland. I am joined by my colleagues, Ms Deirdre Fay and Ms Angela Robinson, as mentioned.

I would like at the outset to highlight the importance of the horticultural sector and its significant contribution to the economy. The sector is the fourth largest sector in agriculture in terms of output, with a farm gate value of €529 million in 2022. The horticulture sector is a labour-intensive industry with an estimated 17,000 people employed at both primary and value-added levels. It is important to highlight the diversity within this sector with a wide range of fruit and vegetables grown across its subsectors, which include protected crops, field crops, outdoor soft fruit, top fruit, potatoes and mushrooms. Most Irish horticultural produce is consumed in Ireland. However, an exception is mushrooms, of which approximately 80% are exported to the UK.

It is clear that there are a number of challenges facing the fruit and vegetable industry in Ireland. Key challenges include high input costs, access to seasonal labour, securing sustainable returns to cover these increased costs, land availability, reduction in the availability of plant protection products and availability of growing media. These challenges have also been exacerbated in recent seasons by changes in climate which have caused difficulties for growers due to extreme weather events impacting negatively on field-based crops. It is important to highlight that across the EU, member states are experiencing similar challenges to those in Ireland in the fruit and vegetable sector. Ireland is not unique in terms of difficulties relating to, in particular, the impacts of climate change, access to seasonal labour and significant increases in input costs.

The National Strategy for Horticulture 2023-2027, commissioned by the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Senator Hackett, was launched in June of this year following comprehensive consultation with industry stakeholders and the public on foot of the publication of the KPMG report, Opportunities for the Irish Horticulture Sector, in July 2022. The vision outlined in the national strategy is to grow a more profitable, value-added sector, driven by innovation and sustainability. The strategy aligns with and delivers on a specific action in Food Vision 2030 by providing a roadmap for the horticulture industry to ensure the future economic, social and environmental sustainability of this crucial sector. The strategy has identified eight key strategic actions that must be progressed in order to ensure the viability of the sector as a whole.

In addition to the work on the national strategy, the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine continues to provide support to fruit and vegetable growers. Since 2018, the scheme of investment aid for the development of the commercial horticulture sector has approved over €53 million in grant aid to the sector. This has supported investment worth over €133 million in the sector. A budget of €10 million has been secured to run this scheme again in 2024.

Recognising the continuing challenges in some areas of fruit and vegetable production, funding of €2.383 million was secured this year under the EU agricultural reserve for the horticulture sector. This fund, like its predecessor - the 2022 horticulture exceptional payment scheme - is targeting subsectors that are most at risk due to a combination of high input prices, low output prices or reduced yield. Applications for this scheme will open shortly.

In describing the supports available for fruit and vegetable producers, I would like to emphasise the importance of the EU producer organisation, PO, scheme, which is administered by the Department. It provides an invaluable source of funding not only to aid capital investments but also to support other actions that benefit and strengthen the position of the PO members in the marketplace. As outlined in the national strategy for horticulture, the aim is to increase the number of POs and the number of growers in POs. Collaboration is an essential tool in mitigating some of challenges being faced by the sector.

The Department has developed a number of schemes and initiatives, funded by the Brexit Adjustment Reserve, BAR, to help to address the difficulties faced by growers following the departure of the UK from the EU. According to legislation, all funds under BAR must be paid to growers by 31 December 2023. Given that approximately 80% of Irish mushrooms are exported to the UK, the mushroom sector was a particular focus for BAR funding. Support has been provided in two ways. Since 2021, total funding of €1.89 million has been provided to promote mushroom consumption in the UK and to sustain Irish market share. Co-ordinated by Bord Bia, several different campaigns have focused on the versatility, health benefits and tastiness of mushrooms and maintained sales at a difficult time for the industry. Additionally, in 2023 two separate investment aid schemes with a budget of €5 million for the mushroom sector were launched. The schemes are designed to accelerate investment in the mushroom sector by providing up to 40% grant assistance to all businesses contributing to the production of mushrooms in Ireland, including compost yards, towards the capital cost of specialised equipment and facilities to increase the efficiency and sustainability of mushroom growing, packing and processing.