Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I would like to express my utter dismay and disappointment with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on its recent decision to reject more than three quarters of applications to the organic farming scheme, which opened last November for just one month. The scheme itself had been shut since 2015. Some 225 farmers and growers applied for the scheme last November. They did not take this decision lightly. They thought long and hard about it. They did the prerequisite organic courses, paid organic certification membership fees and many hired advisers to do this.

Almost a year through the two-year conversion process, having spent much money and time on this conversion, whether it was buying organic seed or converting farm buildings, 175 of them found out in the last week or so that their applications had been unsuccessful. This is totally unacceptable. I believe only one out of 50 successful applications was actually in horticulture.

I do not know what sort of message this sends out. We are in the midst of a climate and biodiversity emergency. We have rising emissions from the agriculture sector and farmers are lining up and crying out for nature-friendly opportunities across all farming enterprises. This Government has effectively starved the organic sector of funding, so much so that Ireland wallows at the bottom of the European Union table for land being farmed organically, at around 2%, whereas the European Union average is closer to 7% and more progressive countries are up at around 20%.

Organic farming is well known for its benefits for biodiversity, water quality and so forth. It lowers emissions and it also increases farm income. What is not to like about it?The Government likes to talk the talk, but its actions speak louder than words. The organic sector deserves better and Irish consumers deserve better. We import vast quantities of organic produce, much of which could be produced here thereby supporting Irish farmers and creating Irish jobs. However, the Government would rather use our hard-earned taxpayers' money to support big agribusiness at the expense of many of our farming families and our environment.

I call on the Leader to urge the Minister, Deputy Creed, and the Minister of State, Deputy Doyle, to direct their Department to review and reassess these applications and do what they can to facilitate these progressive farmers who are looking to improve their farms and farm incomes while at the same time benefiting our challenged and damaged environment.