Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Apologies from the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, for whom I am filling in today. Both I and the Government are fully committed to maintaining a viable sheep sector as an integral element of a balanced regional economy. Sheep farmers are very committed to producing a world-class, safe and sustainable product, and the Government recognises that. Market prices are a commercial matter between suppliers and buyers, and the Government has no role in determining commodity prices in the sheep sector. I recognise the pressure sheep farmers are under as a result of the downturn in the markets over recent months.

I have met sheep farmers and representatives throughout the country in recent weeks and have heard their concerns at first hand. My Department provides significant support to the sector under the new Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, strategic plan, or CSP, both through a targeted scheme for sheep farmers, called the sheep improvement scheme, and through the broad range of schemes in the CSP. More than 19,000 applications have been submitted to the new sheep improvement scheme. The scheme replaces the previous sheep welfare scheme but shares the same aim of improving animal health and welfare in the sector, with a 20% increase in the ewe payment, from €10 to €12, compared with the previous scheme.

More broadly, the CSP provides almost €10 billion in supports for farmers over the period to 2027. Sheep farmers are well placed to avail of several other schemes in addition to the sheep improvement scheme, including the organics scheme and the agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, for which we have secured places for all 46,000 farmers who applied.

Working with the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, we have asked our officials in the Department to examine what potential supports, if any, could be put in place to support sheep farmers in light of the recent challenges. Budgets for 2023 have been set and locked in place. Changes to this will require careful assessment as well as diverting funds from previously agreed areas. We have a sheep sector in Ireland, both lowland and upland, that we can be proud of and the Government is determined to ensure there is a long-term and sustainable future for that sector.

See this speech in context