Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I recently announced the establishment of a new organic sector strategy group tasked with developing a strategy for the development of the organic sector for the period up to 2025. The group has already met twice and I expect will report back later this year with a detailed report and recommendations to drive the growth of the sector.

The terms of reference of the group are: to review the implementation of the 2013 to 2015 action plan; to assess the case for a targeted reopening of the organic farming scheme; and to draft a new strategic plan for the development of the organic sector up to 2025.

The new strategic plan will feed into the new rural development plan and Food Wise 2025. A public consultation process has been initiated by my Department and the deadline for receipt of submissions is 31 May of this year. Further details can be found on my Department's website.

This is an opportunity for all interested parties to contribute to the development of the new strategic plan for the sector. This strategy will incorporate sectoral and cross-sectoral recommendations, market developments, training and education, public awareness and wider EU policy. It is critical that stakeholders make their views known before the finalisation of this strategy, which aims to build on progress made, and provide clear direction for further development of the organic sector for the next seven years.

The current organic farming scheme under the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 has proven to be extremely successful, attracting more new applicants than any previous scheme, and encouraging a significant number of Irish farmers to convert to organic farming systems. This is a co-funded scheme, supported jointly through the rural development programme by the EU and the Irish Exchequer. At this point in time, the budget allocated to the new scheme in Ireland’s rural development programme has been fully committed and all targets set for the scheme within the RDP have already been achieved. Any possible reopening of the scheme could only be considered in the context of the available budget in the overall rural development programme.

With regard to the extent of organic production in Ireland, there are currently 2,127 organic operators, of whom more than 1,700 are farmers. The latest figures indicate that there are now some 72,000 ha under organic production, which is an increase of nearly 50% on the position at the start of the programme in 2014.

See this speech in context