Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I seek a debate with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy McConalogue, some time soon. I also thank the Leader for getting the Minister to meet the hedgerows group that was protesting outside Leinster House last week. Those involved were highly appreciative of the fact that the Minister came out to meet them.

I want to welcome the announcement of the new targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS, by the Minister. I remember when the scheme started it was very restricted to different sectors in agriculture. It has really branched out for areas like tillage now where farmers can invest up to €90,000 in solar panels and get a 40% grant on top of that. TAMS is also promoting young farmers and women in farming. A sum of €370 million has been put into the scheme. It is a good time for the Minister to come in to the House to discuss issues in relation to farming. I am aware that he was presented with a letter from a number of members of the Irish Farmers Association, IFA, yesterday in respect of sheep farming and the challenges they face. I brought up this issue here a number of weeks ago, in that I could see the price was dropping and there were going to be big challenges for sheep farmers in my own county, in Tipperary. It would be helpful if the Minister could come in to discuss that. Many of these farmers are at the pin of their collar at the moment. They have been asking for support for a long time with no one really listening. It has reached the point now where the IFA has had to send a group to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to try to get the Minister to see if he can support them in some way. We are supporting businesses in all sectors across the country at present in the cost-of-living crisis. This sector of the farming community also needs that support. I ask that we prioritise the sheep sector because it is an important element in the agriculture industry, especially in my county of Tipperary.