Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 25 May 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Teagasc Education Courses and the Signpost Programme: Discussion

Photo of Michael RingMichael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Or Cathaoirleach, as the new title is now.

I welcome our guests. Agriculture is gone very high-tech. There are a number of sectors in the agriculture game. There are people who are high-tech and full-time farmers. There are those, like we have in the west, who are in farming on a part-time basis.

One has people putting their names for courses hoping that they will be called for them. In another case, the green certificate might be essential for a farmer to draw down grants. There was a big furore in my area this year because there was such a demand for green certificate courses. I heard Mr. Pettit say Teagasc will be allocating extra resources to the west and north west, which is important. When the Department is making the rules on how people can draw down payments, does Teagasc have any input? Can it say it is not in a position to give the farmers the courses they need?

I have great respect for Teagasc, which has been ahead of the game over the years. Farming and the whole science of agriculture are changing. At the same time, there is a module of farmers out there who will never change. What they need is support, help and back-up from Teagasc and other groups. These are farmers who are not in it on a full-time basis but just about struggling to make a living out of it. They are finding the rules and regulations, along with the educational needs, difficult. Has Teagasc any proposals or support for these kinds of people?