Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Harkin raises a valid question on the ring-fencing of some of the carbon tax for green schemes and farmers, but I do not think it is the full picture in terms of the budget. What we agreed to when the Government was formed was that a proportion of the carbon tax would be ring-fenced for social welfare to increase the fuel allowance. We did that and we stand over it, but also that a significant proportion of the carbon tax would be ring-fenced for climate action. That includes retrofitting, most of which is happening in rural Ireland, but also for farmers as well. Farmers will benefit to the tune of €1.5 billion this decade directly from the proceeds of the carbon tax. I stand over that commitment. The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Deputy Ryan, repeated it yesterday in his speech here in the Dáil, and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, stands over that too. The sum of €1.5 billion in carbon tax proceeds will go to farmers this decade. A decision was taken to start that in 2023 in line with the new CAP. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, can explain the details of that, but it does make sense to do it at the start of the new CAP period in 2023. Farmers will get the full €1.5 billion between 2023 and 2030. I reiterate that commitment here today.

In terms of the budget as a whole, it contained €4 billion for farmers: €1.86 billion through the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and €1.2 billion through EU schemes. It is a 2% increase on 2021 and an 11% increase on budget 2020.

As Deputy Harkin indicated, all the major farm schemes are protected, and that is real money to real farmers. There were a number of new measures, for example, €4 million was allocated for the establishment of the national food ombudsman and the food regulator. That is an important body we want to set up. It is being done very much at the request of farmers and will have a role in ensuring farmers get a fair price for beef and the other products they sell to the market.

In tax, the stamp duty relief for young, trained farmers and stock relief was renewed. The budget for Teagasc has been increased by €7 million, which is important as well in terms of science and research into agricultural issues. As well as that, it is important to bear in mind that farmers are workers and members of society too, and they will benefit from many of the changes made in the budget. Farmers pay income tax, so they will benefit from the reductions in income tax announced in the budget. Many farmers are in receipt of welfare payments. Some are pensioners, some are carers and some receive farm assist. All of those payments increased in the budget. Some will benefit from the healthcare changes such as reduced medicine costs, for example. Many have students going to college who may benefit from the increase in the student grant or the fact the distance changes are being made, which is quite important for rural Ireland too. Others have children in childcare, and they will potentially benefit from the freeze in fees. It is true to say that there were new measures that will benefit farmers and rural Ireland in particular.

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