Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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This week I visited Bandon mart and Skibbereen mart in my constituency. Meeting farmers, it is blatantly clear that they are fed up. They are mainly fed up of overregulation and they are fed up of red tape. They are tired of endless paperwork; new regulations being brought in on a weekly basis; the hoops they have to jump through to qualify for the different schemes; and the endless hours of filling forms to qualify for grants under the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS, or environmental schemes. They are tired of the penalties they get if an “i” is not dotted or a “t” is not crossed and they are absolutely fed up of the changing goalposts we see happening month on month.

One farmer put it absolutely perfectly when he told me there is no joy in farming anymore. If there is no joy in farming, I do not understand how we are supposed to encourage or incentivise the next generation of farmer to come up and take on this incredibly important industry. This sector is the backbone of rural Ireland.

I ask that we please lose the paperwork before we lose the farmers. We have seen a mass exodus in the fishing sector, which is incredibly sad. We do not want to see this happening in the farming sector. I am hearing that it will happen because farmers are tired, they are tired of the paperwork and some are looking to get out. We need to stop that. I understand many of these regulations and directives are coming from the EU. However, we as a Government need to do our bit to ease those regulations and the burden on farmers.

I will give a few examples, especially of the goalposts changing. We all know about the VAT rebate and how certain items farmers were able to claim that rebate on are no longer applicable. That has been well covered. I will give an example of the dairy beef calf premium – the €20 per calf payment. I talked to a farmer who bought a stock bull in 2021. In 2022, there was no mention of this 3-star rating that a bull needed. In 2023, when the cow was bulled, again, there was no mention of the requirement for a 3-star rating on the bull. However, as soon as the calf was born, this requirement for a 3-star rating came in and that farmer therefore did not qualify for the premium It is a perfect example of the goalposts changing.

Then there is the suckler scheme. Apparently it was a requirement that a farmer would join Bord Bia to qualify for the suckler scheme. Reams of paperwork were filled out. However, it transpired a few weeks later that in fact there was not a requirement to join Bord Bia.

Again, that is a perfect example of the goal posts changing. It is clear to me from meeting farmers that it is simple. Just let them do what they are good at, and that is farming. They have been hit by derogation and the reduction in stocking rates. I alluded to the VAT issue earlier. We need to do our best to help farmers. They are dealing with inspection after inspection and reams of paperwork. We need to make it easier so that farmers can get on with doing what they are good at.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising a very important topic. At any meeting with farmers the length and breadth of the country, they raise over-regulation, red tape, bureaucracy and all of the other work that takes them out of their fields and sheds and into their offices and kitchens, and all of the paperwork that goes with that. As a farmer, with my neighbours in Kildare, I know this is a source of frustration which we have to tackle nationally. There is a European element to it, obviously, but I am not going to just blame Europe either. We have a role we can play in the future in terms of how we design future schemes.

It is important to note that the agriculture sector is vitally important to our overall economy. The Deputy and I both agree on that. In 2002, our agrifood exports were worth over €18.7 billion. Wave a strong reputation at home and abroad for high quality, safe food. We must protect and maintain this reputation. Our starting point is not to take for granted the money that farming contributes to our farm families and the rural economies in which they live.

Support for farmers is underpinned by the European Common Agricultural Policy. The current CAP strategic plan for the period 2023 to 2027 is the largest funded plan by Government to date, with a budget of €9.8 billion. In 2023, over €1.5 billion was paid to over 120,000 farmers. However, there is no doubt that this first year of the CAP has been challenging for farmers and the Department. The pace of regulatory change has been significant. The current CAP has introduced new rules on performance reporting and an increased focus on improving the environmental sustainability of the sector. Farmers across Europe and in Ireland have been highlighting the many challenges they are facing, and the difficulties in managing these, when considering changing climatic and economic conditions.

Taking this into account, I am acutely conscious of the need to keep the regulatory framework as simple as possible. The Commission has also taken this seriously and has proposed a package of simplification proposals to benefit both the farmers and the administrators of CAP funding. This package includes amending the basic legislation for the CAP strategic plan to reduce the burden on farmers and provide flexibility to member states to address issues affecting farmers arising from climatic conditions or other adverse events. This will have a real impact in Ireland. Small farmers with 10 ha or below will not be subject to inspections for conditionality, which was formerly known as cross-compliance, and therefore any financial penalties. This is a simplification for up to 20,000 farmers in Ireland. They must continue to meet the conditions required but will not be inspected or penalised under conditionality. Other farmers above 10 ha will still be subject to conditionality controls and any penalties arising. This change will apply to claims made in 2024.

There are a number of other changes to the good agricultural and environmental condition standards, GAECS. In addition, there is some additional flexibility to adjust the GAECS in limited circumstances to address issues arising from climatic conditions. This legislation is due to be published by the end of May and some elements such as the 10 ha exemption will be applicable retrospectively for 2024. Other elements can only be implemented by way of an amendment to the CAP strategic plan. We also need proportionate regulation to protect water quality, animal health and welfare and food safety and to ensure that high standards of food production and environmental protection are maintained in the European Union.

We must not forget that for decades the Common Agricultural Policy, combined with a strong CAP budget and robust operation of the Single Market, has supported farmers and is more sustainably delivering our food security. Farmers are at the core of this. In this regard, the Commission has surveyed farmers and advisers across Europe to get direct experience of their difficulties and preferences. This engagement with stakeholders is also continuing through the processes of the strategic dialogue led by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. I support this work which aims to avoid polarisation in this debate. In addition, the Commission is conducting a survey of farmers across Europe to assess the administrative burden. This will inform future work by the Commission around administrative burden. This work is continuing at EU level. The Minister and I and our officials will continue to work with the Commission and other member states to further simplify the CAP.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State. He clearly has a great understanding of the bureaucracy and paperwork that is faced. The sector needs regulation; every sector needs some form of regulation. However, it has to be balanced. I welcome the recent news on the exemption for farms under 10 ha, which will benefit 20,000 farmers. It will be interesting to see how that plays out on the ground. Many farmers will not be exempt and will still face endless reams of paperwork and form-filling.

One of the most frustrating things that comes across is this idea of the goalposts changing with different schemes. That is where I am sensing a lot of frustration. I will give an example of a farmer in my constituency. I am sure the Minister of State has the same issues coming into his constituency office where an "i" has not been dotted or a "t" has not been crossed. We had a farmer who applied for the tillage incentive scheme in 2023. He applied on time and was successful. However, because of reasons completely out of his control, he lost about eight or nine acres of land which he was leasing and the landowner decided to sell. As there was a reduction in the total number of acres he was farming, he no longer qualified for the tillage incentive scheme. That is a massive financial loss for that farmer. To give another example, we know how farmers have been and will be impacted by derogation when the whole country goes to 220 kg N/ha. There is a lack of flexibility within these schemes. A farmer was transporting slurry to another farm in order to come within the derogation stocking rate and so on. Because the farmer receiving the slurry had not signed a particular form on time or whatever, the original farmer was penalised. Farmers are sick of the penalties. There needs to be more flexibility. There needs to be a bit more compassion shown for farmers in these situations. That is all we are asking for here.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Deputy O'Sullivan raises valid points. The thing that strikes me when he is talking is that farmers are no different from any other business people. Anybody in business will tell us they can take difficult conditions once they have certainty. If they have certainty, they know where they are at. When things change it is a source of great frustration.

It is important when we talk about the CAP to reflect on its history. The first draft of the current CAP was produced in 2019. It was on foot of Brexit and Britain's 10% contribution to the overall multi-annual financial framework being reduced. Phil Hogan was Commissioner at the time. Money had to be clawed back through environmental and other measures to make sure the overall CAP budget was not reduced and we had to then try to make that fit. We are in a different world now compared to 2019, following the invasion of Ukraine and Covid. I have consistently felt that there was a complacency in Europe before that time, albeit less so now, around what the CAP did. Europe initially was a peace project and the CAP was fundamental to that, providing food security. The biggest source of conflict around the world is hunger and famine. Just as Europe got a little bit complacent about peace in Europe, we got a little bit complacent about food security as well. Ireland did not. We have always been to the fore pushing the importance of the CAP. The next CAP discussions will start soon. The current CAP ends and the new one has to be ready to go in 2027. We will have discussions starting on the CAP and, with Ireland in the Presidency in 2026, we will have a key role in finalising that CAP. Those discussions will start from next year. We will need to make sure we have a strong CAP that is protected with a strong budget and is simpler for farmers. I fully accept the frustrations the Deputy described. I hear them as well. Working with European partners and having that focus in the Government, we will be able to make it simpler for farmers the next time around and make sure the focus is on food security and producing the top-quality food that our farmers produce the length and breadth of this country.