Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes, I will open up to new entrants next year because I want to ensure everyone who makes fodder or hay next year has the additional costs involved in that supported by the Government. As the Deputy will be aware, I launched the 2023 fodder support scheme on 2 November. The 2022 scheme proved to be successful with more than 71,000 applicants, with each of them due to receive an average payment of €735 - the maximum payment was €1,000. These payments began issuing to farmers over the past week.

The 2023 fodder support scheme is a continuance of the 2022 scheme and aims to incentivise farmers, in particular dry stock farmers, to grow more fodder - silage and hay - next year to ensure we do not have any animal welfare issues during the winter of 2023 and spring of 2024. We are planning well ahead to ensure we head off any issues while supporting family farms in the process.

The scheme is a reflection of the significant increase in input costs such as fertiliser, energy and silage wrapping. That is why I moved to put the scheme in place this year. It has been successful; I have outlined the number of applicants. Thankfully, it has been successful in ensuring good supplies of fodder in the country this year. Farmers have stepped up to the mark to ensure they have been productive and that we have good stores. We do not know what next April and May might bring. The ground might be frozen hard as happened ten years ago leading to a fodder crisis. If that happens, I want to ensure there is enough silage and hay in the sheds. That sits alongside the tillage incentive scheme we introduced this year, which resulted an increase of 6% or 7% in our overall grain supply.

I wanted the money out by the end of this year for farmers to help as many of them as possible next year to buy fertiliser ahead to ensure they have it to grow grass and to be productive next year. To administer it effectively, as a starting point I made it open to all those already in system and all those who applied this year so they could have a handy process of reapplying for 2023 For those who did not apply this year, it will open up for new applicants in the spring. I wanted to ensure we could drive on as quickly as possible now and that is why we have done it for the existing applicants ahead of time.

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