Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 8 October 2025
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food
Social Farming: Discussion
2:00 am
Eileen Lynch (Fine Gael)
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I am sorry, I am just conscious of my time. I appreciate Mr. Crohan's points about it being an agricultural initiative, which it is, but it is also a lot more than that. The funding is only coming from agriculture as opposed to local authorities, health, disabilities or the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht. Have they been approached for funding for the work that is being done? It is such a great initiative and it affects so many different Departments and areas that, while it is very much an agricultural initiative, I do not see any reason it would not have cross-departmental funding. What link does South Kerry Development Partnership have with local authorities? I note it is stated in the submission that it fed into one of the CAP referrals. In general, do the social farming groups feed into policy groups, public participation networks or strategic policy committees on local authorities? This is for the witnesses' benefit to highlight all the good work they are doing. I come from a county council background and was on Cork County Council for six years. It is important to feed into those committees.