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

Two thirds of the landmass of Ireland is agricultural land, so the measures we take on-farm to improve water quality, biodiversity and soil health and to store more carbon have a massive impact on our wider environment. For the fifth year in a row, we are putting funding in place to pay farmers to take the right measures to improve our environment and secure the long-term future of the family farm, be it through ACRES, the EIPs, the soil sampling programme, the red clover and multispecies sward measures or the organic farming scheme.

Since this Government took office in 2020, we have made huge progress in organic farming. We have trebled the number of organic farmers to over 5,000 today and I am pleased to say that this number will continue to grow, thanks to the €67 million in funding for organic farming that l have secured for budget 2025. We have gone from 1.6% of all agricultural land being farmed organically in 2020 to 5% now, and we are on track to meet our target of 10% of organically farmed land by 2030. The funding I have secured for 2025 will allow us to continue on this positive trajectory by opening the organic farming scheme to new applicants in the coming weeks. We will see further increases in organic production in Ireland in the coming years as a result of this increased participation, and marketing the additional product is a Government priority. Indeed, earlier this week, I was in Germany for the launch of Bord Bia’s EU organic beef and lamb campaign, which will showcase the very best of Irish organic beef and lamb in a number of key markets in continental Europe. The potential to grow our organic exports is enormous. In addition to growing participation in organic farming and increasing our marketing footprint, we need to continue to invest in processing capacity. I am particularly pleased, therefore, that we are committing €3.5 million to the organic processing investment grant scheme for 2025.

Forestry has massive potential. Creating 8,000 ha per year of new forests of many varieties will allow us to deliver for climate, nature, wood and people. We have backed the forestry programme 2023-27 with a €1.3 billion budget and, since the programme opened last September, we have issued licences for new afforestation for a total of over 6,000 ha. Thanks to sustained investment in increased operational efficiencies since the Government took office, the Department has the capacity to issue sufficient licences to meet the climate action plan target of 8,000 ha per year. The funding of €91 million secured for forestry in budget 2025 will underpin the diverse range of tree planting options under the forestry programme, among other schemes run through the forestry division, including the climate action performance payment for ash plantation owners. I want to put on record the Government’s commitment to the target of 8,000 ha of new forests per annum. I encourage farmers and landowners to consider tree planting as an additional income stream. I look forward to my Department supporting all valid licence holders who plant trees under the forestry programme in 2025 at the highly attractive grant and premium rates on offer through the programme.

We have secured a budget of €8.5 million for horticulture in 2025, which will support growers and the sector to reach the ambition set out in the national strategy for horticulture 2023-27. In addition, I am delighted to confirm to the House that horticultural growers who planted and declared field-grown food crops in 2024 on their BISS applications are eligible and will receive the €100 per hectare tillage payment announced as part of budget 2025, which means an extra €1.34 million going to our horticulture sector.

Before I conclude, there are some critical schemes whose continued funding into 2025 I want to welcome. The €2.75 million for the red clover silage and multispecies sward measures will help farmers to reduce their reliance on expensive nitrogen fertilisers, delivering for farmers’ pockets but also for biodiversity, water quality and emissions reduction. The funding of €6 million for phase 3 of the soil sampling and analysis programme will give farmers the data they need to better understand the health of their soil, which is critical to all life on this planet. There will be a doubling of funding for social farming under the rural innovation development fund. I cannot speak highly enough of the social farming movement and the wonderful people I have met throughout the country who participate in it. It is one of the great positive news stories of Irish agriculture and I am delighted to have secured this additional funding.

This has been a progressive and green agriculture budget and I am proud to commend it to the House.

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