Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I do not doubt the seriousness of the issue that the Deputy has raised. It is very serious. It has to be dealt with on a Europe-wide basis. The Minister is engaging with the European Commission and his colleagues at the European Agriculture and Fisheries Council to see what can be done. In addition, we have, through the carbon tax revenue, ring-fenced significant funding for a new ambitious agri-environmental scheme to be rolled out under the next Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, programme. That new agri-environmental scheme will target in the region of 50,000 participants with a maximum payment of up to €10,000 to individual farmers. We will also use revenue over the period in other ways to support materially and in a real way farm incomes, but we have an issue that all goes back to the energy issue, the flow of gas and gas supplies across Europe and globally. That is at the core of this. I have no doubt that the Minister will continue to work with his colleagues on the Council and with the Commission on trying to reduce the pressure on farmers as a result of this.

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