Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin (Wicklow-Wexford, Sinn Fein)
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Tillage farmers, as the Minister of State knows, are in deep crisis. The question I want to ask is whether the Government will introduce a proper area-based payment tillage incentive scheme. Currently, the Government is giving just €40 per acre while it needs to be at least €100 per acre or €250 per hectare, as requested by the farming organisations. It really needs to be done as a matter of urgency in this crisis.

Irish farmers are being fleeced with rising input costs, machinery costs, fertiliser, sprays, diesel and other things in the local hardware shop that they are buying. They have less money to spend locally so we are all being affected, directly or indirectly. Fertiliser prices have tripled since the Ukrainian war so I am just wondering how can farmers withstand this. Of course, the Government closed down our own fertiliser industry in Arklow in 2002. Only three years later, they torpedoed the sugar beet industry in the south east and beyond. However, unbelievably, barley now costs the same as it did in 1974, the year that Abba won the Eurovision Song Contest and I started school. That was the price back then and it has not changed. It is crazy stuff.

We use approximately 300,000 tonnes of grain in the drinks industry annually. We know that we do not have enough grain in Ireland, so at the very minimum, we should be using all Irish grain first before mass importation. Would the Government not agree on this? It is fairly obvious. Mass importation of products is not the vision of our patriotic founding fathers, the 1916 Proclamation or the Democratic Programme of the First Dáil - politicians who wanted us to have some level of economic independence. However, Ireland is slowly becoming a dependent vassal state, not an independent and sovereign one that our patriots gave their lives for.

Ireland has stopped growing grain for human consumption, such as flour, would you believe. It imports the majority of it: approximately 69% from the UK, 11% from Germany, and 8% from France. That is why I salute the farmers in the south east who, last week, attempted to blockade a boat coming into Wexford with 300,000 tonnes of foreign barley. Direct action is one good thing we are importing from France and we need to see more of it. The imported grain is substandard and often genetically modified. It is coming in with blackgrass, which is an invasive species. That is not to mention the huge carbon footprint of all this importation of food.

As Deputy Carthy mentioned earlier, we are insanely planning with Mercosur to flood the European market with 99,000 tonnes of untraceable beef produced in South America on land that was once rainforest. It is insane. At the same time, Irish farmers are highly regulated. If things do not change, we could face a food shortage in years to come.

A tillage farmer who contacted me in my area, Thomas Kenny, wants to hand the baton on to his son, Tomás, who is 15 years old and who I used teach. Thomas is a great, passionate farmer, but the question I would like to put to the Government is whether i can guarantee that Tomás will have a future in farming in this country. Will it be viable for him? His father, Thomas, needs to know if he is to pass on the farm to him.

Will the Government introduce a proper area-based tillage incentive scheme of at least €100 per acre, that is, €250 per hectare, because otherwise we will drive a nail into the coffin of Irish farming, and we have been farming for 6,000 years in this country. It looks like we are going to drive every farmer off the land, especially every young farmer. I would like to know the answer.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I am pleased, on behalf of the Minister for agriculture, to have the opportunity to address the challenges currently being experienced by tillage farmers across the country. To be fair, coming on the back of two extremely difficult years weatherwise, thankfully, conditions for harvest 2025 were much more favourable. It allowed fieldwork to be undertaken and completed in a timely fashion. It was much needed, although many spring crops have not come in as well as winter ones. However, the sector has encountered additional pressures, not least the challenging market situation and downward prices internationally. This, along with high costs of production, has significantly impacted on the margin for growers, with crops on rented land being particularly challenged.

The Government recognises the importance of the tillage sector as an integral part of the Irish agricultural industry. It produces high quality animal feed and bedding for the livestock sector and ingredients for the food and drink industry. The sector makes a significant contribution to the Irish economy, estimated at €1.9 billion per annum over the 2018 to 2022 period. It is hugely important in terms of employment and is estimated to support over 11,000 full-time jobs. Regardless of what the Deputy says, nobody is walking away from it.

The Minister regularly engages with farmer representative bodies on tillage matters. He has met with the Irish Farmers Association and the Irish Grain Growers group on several occasions since his appointment, including through pre-budget engagements and, more recently, at the tillage crisis meeting organised by the Irish Farmers Association on 12 September 2025. The Minister fully understands the concerns expressed by these organisations and their shared ambition to support, grow and develop the sector. The Government shares that ambition and is committed to growing the sector in line with targets set out in the climate action plan.

In 2026, the Department will be supporting the tillage sector with funding of at least €50 million through the protein aid scheme, the straw incorporation measure and the new tillage support scheme.

Having secured this additional funding in budget 2026, the Minister intends to consult further with stakeholders, including the IFA and Irish grain growers, on the design and operation of the tillage support scheme in due course. In addition to these measures, tillage growers will continue to benefit from other schemes next year, including the tillage capital investment scheme, ACRES, and the organic farming scheme.

This year, the budget for the protein aid scheme is €10 million, having increased from €7 million to €10 million annually from last year. Applications covering approximately 66,000 hectares of cereals and oilseed rape totalling €15 million were submitted under the straw incorporation measure, and the Minister made the decision to approve payments to all eligible applicants.

In February this year, the Minister announced €32.4 million in payments under the tillage and horticulture support scheme. The Farming for Water EIP, with a total budget of €60 million, is supporting targeted on-farm measures to improve water quality. Over 1,400 tillage farmers have expressed interest in establishing cover crops under this initiative in 2025.

I have more to say but I will wait until I am replying to Deputy Ó Súilleabháin's supplementary question.

Fionntán Ó Súilleabháin (Wicklow-Wexford, Sinn Fein)
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I am not convinced by the Government's response. The fact of the matter is that we are in the middle of a crisis and farmers have no increase this year. It is still €40 per acre. In her response, the Minister of State mentioned the drinks industry. We have such opportunities but it is incredible to believe that our famous Irish whiskey does not have a requirement to have Irish grain in it. This is absolutely incredible. It is one small thing. There would be incredible opportunities if we were to make additional changes, as well as additional payments, and have proper regulation whereby there should be Irish grain in Irish whiskey. It is a very basic requirement. We could do great things and this is one small example. The Government really needs to have a vision for an industry that is dying on its feet. This is something we have been doing in Ireland for 6,000 years and it would be shameful if we were to drive all the young farmers off the land. Many of them do not see a future and neither do their parents with regard to passing on the farm to their children.

Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent)
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I reiterate that the Government wants to grow and develop the tillage sector in the years ahead. It was for this reason that the Food Vision tillage group was established in 2023, to provide a clear roadmap for the sustainable growth and development of the sector, while improving its environmental footprint.

I heard what Deputy Ó Súilleabháin said. I am well aware of the challenges that farmers face throughout the country. I agree that the recent period has been challenging for the tillage sector, with ongoing and exceptional market pressures placing significant strain on farm businesses throughout the country. The Minister has said he is acutely aware of the impact these difficulties are having on the tillage sector. As I mentioned in my opening statement, the Minister really wants to see the tillage sector not only recover from recent challenges but to grow and thrive in the years ahead. The Government has responded decisively to the recent challenges experienced by the sector through targeted supports, and has delivered significant additional funding in recent years to stabilise and encourage growth in the sector. In addition, budget 2026 provides a core package of at least €50 million to help farmers recover from this year's market challenges.

The Minister wants to assure the House that he will continue to work closely with the tillage sector and continue to provide targeted supports wherever possible, recognising its vital contribution and strategic importance in the wider agricultural and agrifood industries.