Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is no ambition in the Minister of State's strategy. It is interesting the Minister of State states that her target is to reach the EU average but she did not actually say what that percentage was because the Department's percentage is 7.5%. That was the EU average in 2018 and that average has already increased. By the time we reach the Minister of State's targets, if we do, we will have reached a target that is seven years out of date.

Some 74 people left the scheme last year. That means that if all 317 applications are accepted, the increase in organic farmer numbers will be 243, which is less than half of what the Minister of State set out as the target of up to 500 additional schemes. This is the difficulty and let us be honest about it.

Of course, it is easy to get a 20% increase when one is starting from almost the lowest rate in Europe. Farmers across the country have said they are interested in organics. If we are serious about climate action, then we have to get interested in expanding the organic farming sector. What is the Minister of State going to do to get real about this particular form of farming which has so much potential if dealt with properly?

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