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

I thank the Minister of State. The EU average was 7.5% about three years ago. Across the board, the EU has set a target of 25%. We are second to last, coming only ahead of Malta with regard to land under organic use. The question I posed was very specific. It was on the number of new organic farmers. While the amount of land under organic use is important, and the Minister of State's reply dealt with this, it is also crucial that we increase the number of organic farmers. Otherwise I fear the Department will go for what might be considered low hanging fruit. It will go for the larger farmers to come into the scheme in order to meet the 50,000 ha target. Will the Minister of State give a commitment that she will shape the scheme to encourage smaller and medium-sized farmers to enter organics?

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