James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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7. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department will again be supporting a national organic food fair which took place in Merrion Square in 2024; whether smaller fairs might be supported in other smaller Dublin or urban parks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13804/25]

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I congratulate the Minister and all the other Ministers on their roles and wish them well in their brief. They might not see me here much but this is an issue of interest to me. It is about the farm-to-fork philosophy. A very successful organic food fair was run in Merrion Square last year. My question is on whether it will be funded again this year. Second, can the type of funding that went towards that fair be extended to parks and other urban areas, not just in Dublin?

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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Go raibh maith agat, Deputy Geoghegan, for the question. I am a great supporter of the farmer markets and organic food markets.

In 2023 the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine awarded €1.1 million to 12 projects to promote and develop the organic sector over 2023 and 2024. One of the successful applications was to hold an organic food fair in Merrion Square, and this was a well-attended event that took place on 31 August and 1 September 2024.

In 2024, the Department held a call to promote and develop short supply chains. There were five themes to the call, one of which was “Encourage and support local authorities to expand the number of farmers’ markets, farm shops and food emporiums, and support the formation of community-owned markets in all towns, showcasing local food produce from local farmers, growers and food producers". There were over 90 applications, and 16 successful projects were announced in January this year. Many of these will be supporting local food markets, but none is Dublin based, unfortunately.

A total of €920,000 in funding has been allocated for 2024 and 2025, inclusive.

Earlier this year, I announced a €3 million call for projects to promote and develop the organic sector over the period 2025 to 2027. The call looked for projects that would align with the EU action plan on organics, and allowed for proposals to develop national and local food fairs. A total of 25 applications were received. These will be evaluated, successful applicants notified and projects published before the end of April. Given the ongoing process, I am not in a position to state whether or not any of the applications relate to national or Dublin-based food fairs but over the past number of years every opportunity has been provided for groups and individuals to apply for funding to support food fairs.

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State and I welcome his support for the funding of farmers' markets and organic food fairs. In all seriousness, these fairs are a very good way of bridging some of the differences and divides between rural and urban Ireland and fostering a greater understanding and appreciation of rural Ireland in urban environments but crucially, there is a real economic value to this. Most of the new restaurants that emerge in Dublin or Cork or wherever are built off the ethos of farm to fork. That is where the punters are going. That is where they are spending their money.

Other European countries are very proud of promoting the food manifesto. In particular, one of the ways the Nordic countries have to encourage people to visit is the thriving restaurant sectors they have. We know the challenges the restaurant sector right across Ireland faces and that is why this Government has committed to reducing the VAT rate to 9% in the lifetime of this Government. That will be a very important measure as they deal with their cost of business. Equally, it is about promoting the philosophies that underpin these restaurants as well.

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy for his comments. It is great that a Dublin TD is talking about farmers' markets, which is very important. I spoke about this in my first speech to this Dáil when a number of the TDs from Dublin were talking about the farming community. Farmers put an awful lot into the economy in Ireland and I am great a supporter of farmers' markets. We have very successful ones in Galway and Galway City Council tries to support an organic farmers produce sales in the Black Box Theatre, which has been very successful.

As I said, there is an application in place. It is in process and I hope the Merrion Square project will be successful and I hope that if it is, I will be there to visit it. I thank the Deputy for the question and I hope the application will be successful.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Are you happy, Deputy?

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister and it is great to hear that. It is important to reiterate the importance of the funding for projects right across the country, including ones that will take place in my own constituency in Merrion Square. Ultimately, if we want to have a successful, thriving food culture and a thriving restaurant sector in Dublin, it is about promoting these farmers' markets everywhere. It is something the Department could perhaps look at to not just target the major events like a park in Merrion Square that everybody is visiting but perhaps the smaller parks.

In the Dublin City Council area, lots of markets take place every weekend such as in Herbert Park or St. Anne's Park, which are not in my constituency. A lot of the people who are attending those parks to sell their goods are selling organic produce and perhaps there is more the Department could do to fund smaller projects like that.

Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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I agree with the Deputy on that and I will look at it, along with my colleagues here. The second call closed on 7 March and relates to a €3 million fund to develop and promote our organic sector to cover the period of 2025 to 2027. The applicants were asked to submit their applications for that. It is in process at the moment and the announcements will hopefully be made by the end of April. I hope more organic markets like this will be in our towns and villages around the country but it would be great to see more of them within the major cities and the likes of Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway where farmers come in to sell their produce, as we see all over Europe.

I came back from Vietnam recently and there is a market on every street. It is maybe something we could see if we could grow more here. I thank the Deputy.