Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Carthy for his questions. First, as to the situation of Covid-19 in the meat factories, this is something that the Government is taking very seriously and the meat factories have also responded very intensively to this issue. As I said in my opening contribution, the welfare of employees and of people is the first priority in this pandemic across all sectors of society, and this is particularly the case in the agrifood sector, where workers and employees have been essential throughout that sector in keeping the food supply chain operating. That has been especially challenging in the food processing sector and has required absolute attention as to protocols being put in place and followed to keep employees safe. Part of that as well has been the adoption of serial testing in the food processing sector, which is one of the few sectors in which that has actually been happening. There have been six rounds of such testing and there is a round under way. We are working with public health and with the Health and Safety Authority to ensure that the highest of safety standards are applied, any breaches of which will be taken very seriously. Anybody who comes across any such breaches should report these immediately.

On funding for the agrifood sector overall, I point to the €179 million additional funding that I secured in October in the 2021 budget. That is an 11% increase on the previous year specifically dedicated towards supporting farm incomes, maintaining the schemes that were there, and delivering €79 million in new funding for farmers for environmental measures and schemes. Last night, at the Donegal IFA AGM, I announced the opening of the BEEP–S, the beef environmental efficiency pilot-suckler, scheme which will deliver €40 million over the course of this year, up to €90 per cow and calf pair, something which is going to be essential to the farming sector.

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