Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his question. Driving the development of the Irish organic sector is a major priority for me and my Department. We have set the highest level of ambition ever for the sector in the programme for Government with an aim to reach the EU average of land farmed organically during the lifetime of this Government. We are also committed to the full implementation of the current Review of Organic Food Sector and Strategy for its Development 2019-2025. A key element in reaching this ambitious target is increasing the number of farmers farming organically. To achieve this, I secured additional funding for this year to reopen the organic farming scheme. I was delighted that 317 farmers have applied to convert to organic farming and perhaps, unlike the Deputy, I considered this quite a strong response given the many alternative scheme options that were available to farmers during this Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, transitional period. If all these applicants are eligible and proceed to convert to organic farming, it will mean an increase of more than 20% in the number of farmers farming this way. Of course, we are still waiting to find out what area of land these applications represent and we should know that shortly as the basic payment scheme, BPS, application window has just closed.

I am satisfied that the current budget allocated to the scheme this year will allow eligible applications successful entry into the scheme. It is my intention to build on the interest shown to date and to drive further growth in organic farming. I will be actively examining a further reopening of the scheme for next year subject to funding. My Department is currently devising a new and ambitious organic farming scheme to be introduced under the new CAP in 2023 which will aim to increase the synergies that exist between organics, agri-environment climate measures and the eco-schemes and thus make organic farming a more attractive farming option.

Ultimately the development of the sector will be driven not just our scheme but by a range of factors. We need to work closely with Bord Bia and indeed Teagasc to deliver on those. I will certainly be trying to leverage as much support from both Bord Bia and Teagasc in this regard. We need to keep the ambition high for organic farming, it is a very significant growth area and I look forward to seeing it grow.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

In association with Teagasc, the Department runs the organic farming demonstration programme. Under this programme, a nationwide series of national organic farming open days takes place on selected organic demonstration farms. This provides farmers with an insight into organic farming and is an invaluable tool in showcasing organic farming at a practical level. This programme, by the sharing of knowledge at a local level, will hugely contribute to the conversion to organic farming.

As well as all this however we may need to think even more broadly. Many of our European counterparts use public procurement strategies to support their organic producers. I want to look at whether or not we might do something similar here. In this regard, the programme for government does include commitments to green public procurement, and I believe there is room to see how organic food production might fit with that.

In summary, nobody has shown the level of ambition for the Irish organic sector as this Government. We have hit the ground running by securing extra funding for the reopening of the scheme but this is just the beginning.

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