Malcolm Noonan (Green Party)

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. This important debate is my first opportunity to formally welcome him to the Seanad Chamber.

I have just come from a meeting of the climate committee where we discussed in private session the challenges regarding climate change, biodiversity loss and water quality. No sector in Ireland will be more greatly affected by a changing climate, degraded habitats and disimproving water quality than the farming sector. It is critically important to look not just at new markets but to find something that is distinctly unique to Irish produce and that can be marketed as such around the world.

My constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny is home to some of the finest producers of dairy and beef in the country. We also have wonderful producers like Highbank Orchards, Dizzy Goat Farms and Mooncoin Beetroot, which are looking at both export markets and the domestic sector. My colleague spoke about Irish farmers markets.

A previous speaker talked about the importance of securing funding under the multi-annual financial framework. It is also critically important that we embed in the next CAP strategic plan and the next design of the agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, schemes that will support farmers to do the right things for nature, water and climate. They should not just be bespoke schemes that last for five or seven years. They must run on a continuing basis in order that farmers will have certainty that they can have good agricultural production and are also given proper payment for doing the right thing by climate, nature and water. That is hugely important.

We have been talking about branding this afternoon. We can brand a unique Irish product that is based on low-carbon farming and close-to-nature farming, that is, farming for nature, water quality and climate. We could bring a very distinct brand to market that may not be achievable for other countries. That is what consumers want. They are looking not just for organics but for a product that is sustainable.

I would say the same in regard to our fisheries. I met with fishers a number of years ago when we were working to develop the marine protected area legislation. Fishers want marine protected area because they know there is a positive spillover from sites that are protected into fishing sites. We are currently looking at the issue of overfishing of sprat in Bantry Bay. It is a really appalling situation that is impacting negatively on fishers there.

I ask that the Minister of State take away from my contribution the need to look at the sustainability of our produce and the potential for branding that is unique in terms of offering a product based on low-carbon production, good water quality and farming in conjunction with nature. Our marine products will benefit from that, as will our agricultural products from the land. We have something unique in this country, namely, our land, but it has, unfortunately, been degraded over many decades. Some of that is a result of EU policies in that farmers will only do what they are directed to do. Farmers and fishers want to do the right thing but they must be supported to do it.

If we are looking to new markets, it is critically important that we look at all of this in its totality. We must look at the nature restoration regulation and the plan that is about to unfold that will be led by the Government. It can do something unique that will not just protect nature, restore our free-flowing rivers and put in a network of marine protected areas, but will also be able to tie in with having a food product that is of the highest quality, as it has always been, while ensuring we work with nature.Farmers and fishers need to be paid to do the right thing. I again ask the Minister of State to take that away with his colleagues. I wish him well in his work. He has an important task ahead and I know he is up for that task. However, it is critically important that all of the support given in the next CAP strategic plan or the next ACRES needs to be embedded into the system to ensure farmers are supported to do the right thing.