Mr. Nigel Renaghan:

We have history on the scoring issue and it is a good question. In 2018, the scheme opened for a very short period of time. There were 225 applications and 110 people were not successful. The scheme was flawed because it was done on a points basis. The bigger the farms were, the more points the applicants were allocated. This is wrong and the IFA is totally against it. People should be judged on merit, not on the size of their farms. There are many small farmers in the country and we should not discriminate against small farmers accessing a scheme, which is what happened. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine admitted that was the case but nothing was done to rectify the matter.

Of those farmers who did not get into the scheme, 63 of them, who are called the pilgrim farmers, stuck with the organic scheme even though they never got into it. They paid to do an organic farming course, modified their buildings and paid certification bodies. They had to abide by all the rules and regulations but they never got a payment. That needs to be addressed. Some people would say it cannot be addressed but the €50 million scheme for beef producers was a retrospective payment for cattle they had killed in Ireland. This could be done.

With regard to training and education, a number of years ago Teagasc had three organic farms and five advisers. Approximately a month ago, we met Teagasc and we highlighted the fact it does not have an organic farm. Teagasc does not even have an organic farm but schemes such as farm to fork are promoted. Teagasc had one adviser and has taken on another. This needs to be addressed.

Senator Daly mentioned soil. In terms of organic farms, the soil is where we are at. Generally, we do not highlight it because it is what we have to do. With regard to soil health and the nutrient uptake of soil, soil sampling is very important, and what would also be very important would be a programme for liming land.

All types of farmers, whether they are spreading chemical fertiliser or any type of nutrient, need lime to get the most out of their grass. That is what we need. I hope that has gone some way towards answering the questions.