Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

I appreciate that farming and the food industry have been extremely important to the national economy, but of course it is particularly important to regional economies and to communities across the length and breadth of the country in terms of purchasing power and the impact on other sectors, the supply chain and so forth. It is a significant industry in Ireland, and farmers are taking unprecedented actions to improve water quality. We are providing financial support to farmers in this regard. We have the Farming for Water European Innovation Partnership. That is a budget of €60 million, led by the local authorities water programme in partnership with Teagasc and Dairy Industry Ireland. That is providing financial support for specific targeted actions to improve water quality. Approximately 3,600 farmers have applied for support under the Farming for Water EIP. It aims to support up to 15,000 farmers over five years to 2029. Of course, there are also 54,000 farmers participating in ACRES. We will do everything we possibly can. We are working collectively on it as a Government and using all avenues at our disposal to get the right result.

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