Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

Gabhaim buíochas as an deis caint ar an ábhar seo agus do na Seanadóirí a léirigh suim san ábhar. I thank the Cathoirleach for this opportunity to speak to the Seanad on the issue of the organic food industry. I must start by reiterating my personal commitment and that of the Government to developing the organic sector in Ireland. In the programme for Government, agreed when this Government was set up, we set a target of converting a minimum of 5% of acreage to organic farmland by 2012. This is an ambitious target, bearing in mind that less than 1% of acreage was devoted to it when we came into Government, but by no means an impossible one.

Organic food production and processing is one of the few areas showing steady growth both here at home and in the countries to which we already send most of our conventional produce. It is obvious that Ireland is almost uniquely suitable for organic farming. We are a food producing island. Most of our farming is already extensive, unlike some of the continental European countries or the USA with their heavily industrialised food production sectors. We also have our famous clean, green image abroad.

One might wonder why we have made so little use of these advantages up to now. Times have changed, however. The chemicals and pesticides used in intensive farming have become more and more expensive and at the same time their use has been restricted throughout the EU. The non-farming European public has become concerned at the impact of intensive farming on biodiversity and the environment in general. At the same time farmers' incomes have once more come under pressure from cheap imports and the relentless pressure from the retail multiples to accept less for their produce.

Thankfully, however, farmers are good at adapting - they have to be. As intensive conventional farming becomes less profitable, and with relentless competition from cheap imports at prices that no Irish farmer could match, the time has come for farmers to look for alternative ways to make their enterprises pay. One obvious answer - not the only one by any means but an obvious one nevertheless - must be organic farming and the related activity it generates in the food processing and retail sectors. We have a long way to go but, in fairness, I acknowledge the contribution of my predecessors to developing the organic sector. As far back as November 2000, the then Minister of State with responsibility for food, the former Deputy Davern, established the Organic Development Committee on foot of a recommendation in the Agri-Food 2010 report. This committee was the first forum to bring organic producers together with a wide range of stakeholders, including the main farming organisations, a number of State bodies, such as Teagasc and Bord Bia, and representatives of the retail sector and consumer interests. Two years later Deputy Noel Treacy, the then Minister of State with responsibility for food, accepted the recommendation of the Organic Development Committee that three new structures be set up.

Foremost was the National Steering Group for the Development of the Organic Sector, which was intended to act as a driving force for the development of the organic sector and a basis for advancing partnership between the organic sector and the other principal essential interests. Two other groups with a specific remit were established to feed into the work of the steering group. A partnership expert working group, led by Teagasc, was given the task of co-ordinating, facilitating and monitoring the provision of training, education, advice and research. An organic market development group, under the co-ordination of Bord Bia, was given overall responsibility for developing a national marketing strategy for organic food. These are not talking shops. Partnership is vital if the organic sector is to reach its full potential, and it is important for all the stakeholders to have forums like these to exchange views and information.

In 2008, my Department launched a new organic farming action plan to drive the organic sector forward for a number of years into the future. To put matters in context, the organic sector here is still small in the context of agriculture as a whole, but it is growing faster than other sectors. At the end of 2008 there were approximately 1,450 organic operators in Ireland with 44,751 hectares of land - more than 1% of the land area - in conversion or under organic production methods. Although this is less than the 5% EU average, it is a substantial increase on the previous few years.

The growth in demand for organic food is clearly illustrated by the organic retail market. The Irish organic retail market was estimated to be worth €104 million in 2008 compared with €66 million in 2006 and €38 million in 2003. Annual growth of 40% in 2007 and 2008 - naturally growth in this market has eased but it is still high at 11% - compares with 2.7% growth in the conventional food sector. I will cite more up to date figures. Bord Bia has calculated that currently the organic market here is worth €120 million. The issue that presents a challenge for all of us in this House and for all those involved in farming is that only about 25% of the Irish market for organic produce is met by Irish production whereas 60% of the equivalent market in the UK is met by UK production. Therefore, considerable import substitution opportunities are staring us in the face.

Current trends in the production and consumption of food here indicate that we have an increasingly health conscious consumer who demands quality, convenience and value. As the majority of organic produce sold in Ireland is imported, it is clear that there are opportunities for producers to fill that gap. I know consumers like to know where the food they buy is produced and their preference in general is for Irish produced food. Irish organic food definitely sells well.

Locally produced organic food definitely has an extra appeal to consumers. With the growth in direct selling, via farm shops, box schemes and farmers' markets, there is increasingly an outlet there for organic producers and processors to market their products locally. The development of these direct routes to market are all the more important now as producers find their margins cut or eliminated by larger retailers. I am aware that some of the large organic producers who sell through the major retailing chains have been asked to accept major cuts in the prices offered to them.

The paradox in organic farming in Ireland is that although we are self-sufficient in organic red meat and there is a huge export market waiting to be exploited - we can talk about those who are growing that export market - we have to import many of the organic fruit and vegetables we eat. We could replace many of those imports with Irish organic produce. At a recent Teagasc conference we were told that 23% of Welsh horticulture is organic, so we have much potential.

I am satisfied that a major market opportunity exists for the expansion of the other sectors, both for the home and export market. The UK organic market is worth €2.1 billion as against the €120 million I mentioned for the Irish market. Bord Bia research shows that British consumers are favourably disposed to buying Irish organic produce. They regard that as local as we talk about Irish produce being local. Recently I attended the World Organic Trade Fair in Germany where, for the first time, Bord Bia was represented. The German organic market alone was worth €4.6 billion. I am aware that those Irish organic businesses on the joint Bord Bia-BIM stand garnered significant new orders at that fair at a time when most businesses are simply trying to hold on to existing market share.

The organic food market presents major opportunities to Irish farmers and producers. The main organic enterprise at farm level is beef production. Bord Bia research shows that a major deficit exists in the UK market for organic beef. Based on the success of our existing organic exporters it is clear that the quality of our beef very readily suits that market.

While organic dairying has developed to a minimal extent to date, the feedback I am receiving from the industry indicates that a serious potential exists for expanding our organic herd. The market for organic lamb is not as straightforward. For example, while some established producers, especially those who are producing out of season, have been able to market their produce organically at a decent premium, new entrants, especially those marketing at peak season, may find it difficult to source organic outlets at present. This is an area I would like to see actively pursued by the industry and Bord Bia. Teagasc should be in a position to provide sufficient back-up to enable organic lamb to be produced in a cost-effective manner.

The current rural development programme, which runs from 2007 to 2013, clearly identifies the Government's ongoing financial commitment to the development of the organic sector in Ireland. The programme provides direct support to farmers through the new organic farming scheme. Previously, organic farmers had to be in the rural environment protection scheme, REPS, to get a supplementary organic payment, but that is no longer the case. This initiative is designed to encourage small-scale horticultural producers to convert to organic production and also to induce conventional tillage producers to convert part or even all of their holdings. Both areas are very much in deficit production-wise and there is a ready-made market for the organic product.

As a further incentive to encourage non-REPS farmers solely involved in tillage production to convert to organic farming, there is an additional payment of €240 per hectare available in the in-conversion period, up to a maximum of 40 hectares, provided they grow green cover crops during that period. This measure should be of particular interest to tillage farmers wishing to convert part of their holdings to organic production. The availability of home-grown certified organic grain is one of the main challenges facing the organic sector at present and it is hoped these initiatives will go some way to alleviating this situation.

The growth in the demand for and consumption of organic food has been clearly established. To reap the benefits of growing levels of consumption of organic food, the potential market opportunities at home and abroad must be exploited more fully. Organic farming has a major role to play in meeting the ever-increasing challenges of depleting oil supplies, climate change and the provision of a sustainable supply of food. More farmers producing organic food in Ireland would mean fewer imports, more jobs at home and less energy used worldwide.

I read with interest research on the nutritional benefits of organic food, the great employment opportunities and the resilient growth of worldwide consumer demand for organic food in spite of the recession. However the saving in oil and oil-based agri-chemical use in organic farming has the potential to feed people when oil is unaffordable and agri-chemicals unattainable. It is fitting that we are having this debate today because in 1909 two German scientists, Haber and Bosch, discovered the process which synthesised nitrogen from fossil fuels. Since then we have been producing food with dependency on fossil fuels and dining out on oil and natural gas.

We must sustain that level of production because of our population but it will require many more people to get involved in growing more food. At the time of that discovery exactly 100 years ago, before agriculture was industrialised by fossil fuel dependency, we had 1.7 billion people on the earth. Today we have 6.5 billion. Unless more people become involved in growing more food minus oil and agri-chemicals, the agricultural miracle of the 20th century may become the agricultural apocalypse of the 21st century. That is why this debate is so important. It gives us the opportunity to reflect on what it is like to grow food when one does not have agri-chemicals. We have a choice in the matter now; that may not be the case in the future.

While it is my Department's job to foster and promote all kinds of farming and food production, we recognise the organic sector for what it is: a valuable, more sustainable production system that offers real opportunities to farmers and the food sector, and real prospects to preserve and create new jobs, thus ensuring quality of life for this and future generations.