Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

With regard to planning matters, the Deputy will be aware that these are the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government. However, I am aware of the challenges faced by farmers in respect of new developments to meet animal welfare directives and my Department has been working with all stakeholders to ensure that this transition goes as smoothly as possible.

New EU animal welfare rules setting down new standards on the housing of sows came into force on 1 January 2013. My Department introduced a targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, better known to farmers as TAMS, for sow welfare in June 2010 in order to assist pig farmers in converting existing pig units or constructing new units to comply with the requirements of this directive. I introduced a revised TAMS sow welfare scheme in July 2012. The revised scheme increased the previous investment ceiling of €300,000 per holding to €500,000 per applicant for the first sow house; a further amount of €300,000 for each of the next three houses was also introduced. A total of €13 million has been allocated to this scheme under the rural development programme. It follows two earlier schemes in 2005 and 2007 and payments of €6.2 million have already been made to pig producers.

A significant number of pig producers have undertaken the necessary work required to upgrade their facilities in order to comply with the new rules. The deadline for receipt of valid applications was 3 May 2013 and all work under the scheme must be completed by the end of September 2013.

With regard to the poultry sector, the enriched cage production system, which prohibited the sale of eggs produced in older un-enriched cages, was introduced in January 2012. Some €16 million was allocated through the TAMS, under the aegis of Ireland’s rural development programme, to assist existing producers to convert their production systems. The deadline for completion of work was the end of September 2012 and, to date, more than €11 million has been paid out to farmers under the scheme.

In conclusion, I am satisfied that my Department has made substantial resources available to the pig and poultry sectors to enable producers in these sectors to comply with EU legislation in the animal welfare area. In addition, both I and the Department are in regular contact with farm bodies and various banks concerning the availability of credit to pig and poultry farmers. Farmers who are not satisfied with the service provided by their banks can ask for an internal review by the bank but I would also encourage them to talk to my Department because I would like to hear if they are not getting the kind of treatment they need to get from their banks at the moment.

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