Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Senator Pippa Hackett):

On the target, I appreciate it is nowhere near the EU target of 25%. We are coming from an incredibly low base level because of low support for this sector in recent decades. I am getting us on the road to improve that. It is my hope, if we hit those targets by the end of this CAP, the door will be open to ramp them up in the next CAP.

Organic farmers are not excluded from agri-environmental schemes. Sometimes the Commission rules and the regulations limit double payments on the same land for essentially the same measures, which is the issue. Organic farmers are invited to apply for and are at the top of the list to get into agri-environmental schemes. It depends on the design of that and is a matter I will consider in the next round of CAP negotiations.

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