Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will keep it short. The organic farming scheme has been closed since 2015. As my colleague Senator Pádraig Mac Lochlainn said, we need to create more opportunities for the decreasing number of farmers. We also need more diversity in schemes for farmers if we are to try to encourage them to stay in farming or bring more into the system. The organic farming scheme benefited biodiversity. It also benefited water quality, carbon emissions and animal welfare. It would potentially also benefit the farmer economically and in terms of quality of life. There are farmers who would be very interested in such a scheme. Could the Minister possibly reopen the scheme to allow those who are queuing up to have more choice?

My second point concerns the policies the Minister might put in place to support or improve the position for suckler cow farmers.