Michael Comiskey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Commissioner to the House this afternoon. I thank him for coming to address us on his work as the EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development. I congratulate him on his appointment as Commissioner, a very vital and prestigious role. Irish agriculture has gained a lot from membership of the European Union. It is important that we acknowledge the importance of the Common Agricultural Policy in Ireland.

I welcome the recent approval of Ireland's Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 by the EU Commission. The formal adoption of the RDP marks the next step in the roll-out of the reformed Common Agricultural Policy agreed under Ireland's Presidency of the European Union. The implementation of a number of key schemes contained in the RDP have been announced in the past few weeks. The continued roll-out of the RDP schemes and supports will help to underpin economic growth and development throughout rural Ireland.

The RDP contains approximately €4 billion worth of schemes and supports, including a new agri-environment and climate scheme, GLAS, which is the successor to previous REPS and AEOS schemes, and a range of other environmental schemes. The supports include support for areas of natural constraint, formerly known as disadvantaged areas; support for a range of on-farm capital investments; support for a range of knowledge transfer measures; and support for projects delivered via the Leader mechanism which is operated by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. The schemes contained in the RDP also pay special attention to young farmers and older young farmers which are elements of our farming community that can sometimes be overlooked.

While there are many success stories contained in the RDP, the introduction of the beef data and genomics programme has proved tricky. The BDGP is a very beneficial scheme which will see €52 million invested every year and will provide €300 million in total to the suckler industry in Ireland. Undoubtedly, genomic testing will improve the quality of our herds from four-star to five-star cows thus leading to better performance in the herd. The star ratings have been a cause of concern for some farmers who believe that the criteria for the scheme should be lower, possibly as low as three star but rising to five star later on.

An aspect of the scheme which has proved divisive is that the scheme will have a total span of six years. That may prove difficult for some farmers. Another issue is the set reference year. It means that farmers who do not have cows in the reference year of 2014 will be unable to enter the scheme thereafter. I am interested in hearing the Commissioner's view on these points.

In conclusion, I thank the Commissioner for addressing us today and wish to let him know that I have looked forward to hearing his address.