Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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66. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reasons for his decision to rule out introducing any compensation scheme for dairy farmers who wish to reduce the size of their herds; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18334/24]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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The Minister said last week that he is taking the voluntary dairy cow reduction scheme off the table. Will he explain why this is being done? Was it because Dairy Industry Ireland, which describes itself as the most influential business representative organisation in Ireland, threatened to sue the State if milk volumes for processors dropped as a consequence?

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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This is another example of Deputy Murphy looking to portray somehow that there is a big industrial ethos and personality to our agricultural sector whereas the opposite is the truth. We have family farms across this country working in a co-op structure, thankfully, in the dairy sector. Under this structure, as much of the return as possible is returned to the family farms and the dairy farms that are doing it. The reason I took that scheme off the table is because my objective is to back farmers and family farms in the work they are doing to reduce emissions. We have seen emissions reduced in 2022. I am confident that when the 2023 figures come out, we will see those reduced further. I want to back these farmers in food production because producing food is massively important and that is what I want to see happen. That is what I want to back farmers to continue to do. In backing them to continue to produce that food, we will also support them with the work they are undertaking, and the work we are supporting to be undertaken as well, regarding reducing emissions and working to support the environment. That is the approach we are taking.

As regards the particular scheme and measures we are taking to meet our 25% reduction in emissions by 2030, I established a food vision group with all stakeholders as part of that in 2022 to advance actions in the dairy sector that were identified in the Food Vision 2030 strategy and to feed back to me the different steps we could take which would see that 25% reduction or the equivalent of a reduction of 5.75 megatons of carbon dioxide equivalent by the end of the decade. One of the recommendations the group made that should be considered was the potential for a dairy reduction scheme. I have reflected on that recently. I have also assessed what is happening as regards the various steps and the progress being made on reducing emissions. I have spoken to the Deputy before today about how we have seen a reduction of 30%, which is very significant, in the use of chemical fertiliser over just the past two years. That is a reflection of what is going on in this sector and the work farmers are doing, so I do not see a need for this scheme. Also, there are particular complications with how any such scheme would be operated, which were considerations as well.