Paraic Brady (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for coming to the Chamber. As he knows, the agricultural sector is well represented in the House by me and my colleagues. The farming sector feels it is the first time it has ever had a strong voice. We are glad to have the Minister as head of the agricultural sector. Last week, the National Ploughing Championships showcased what the agricultural sector is all about, what it supports and, really and truly, the impact it has on rural Ireland. It is a very strong industry that has to be supported. Agriculture is important to the sustainability of rural Ireland and rural families.

There are several key areas. The value of food, drink and horticultural exports reached a record of €17 billion in 2024, a 5% increase on the previous year. This is something we must welcome. The UK remains our largest single market, accounting for €5.9 billion. International markets outside of the EU and the UK brought in €5.2 billion, with North America alone contributing €2 billion, a 14% increase that we must not see lightly. With regard to projected growth in the market, it is estimated that the value of Irish agricultural exports will reach approximately €2.7 billion in 2025. The figures are for raw agricultural produce only. The one thing we must recognise is that every €1 we give the farming community turns into €4 to €6 of an investment in local communities.

I will touch on a few aspects of agriculture. I welcome the TB task force. It is something on which we have engaged with the Minister in recent years. The Minister has listened to farming communities and their concerns. Everyone wants to see a reduction in the number of reactors in the sector. It is probably at an all-time high, which is unfortunate, and it is now in the remit of the Minister. I hope the new task force will deal with it, and I am sure it will. As I have said, the Minister has engaged with the farming communities. He has listened to their concerns and to ours regarding ways we can reduce TB in the national herd. He has implemented this in the new scheme. There is one part of the scheme that I hope the Minister will reconsider. The valuation of a reactor when it comes down is a maximum of €3,000. The Minister has given a commitment that he will look at this, and I hope it will be looked at. Certainly, it is an area where we need to see an increase. I welcome the rest of the scheme.

The forgotten farmer scheme is very welcome. The issue has thrashed on for a long number of years whereby, since 2013, a number of farmers have not been allowed to receive a payment under the CAP as it is now. I welcome that the Minister has engaged with this scheme and it is there for young farmers to take up. It is certainly something that has eased the burden among this cohort of farmers. A certain percentage will not fit into the scheme but the Minister has single-handedly addressed this issue, and I welcome this.

I will touch slightly on the Mercosur trade deal. Any trade deal and trade for our exports is to be welcomed. There is one part of the Mercosur trade deal that concerns every farmer and that is with regard to the beef sector. I emphasise that I am not one bit afraid of Brazilian imports coming into this country. As we have seen, the United States has in recent days encouraged farmers in the beef sector to produce more. It is looking at 3 million cows. Brazil has asked its farmers to produce more. At this moment in time, beef is in scarcity. Until we realise, not only in Europe, but throughout the world, that we must protect our food sources and put strategic infrastructure in the beef sector and other areas, we will end up with a case where we have a growing population but we cannot produce enough food. We will be looking at producing food in factories. Some of our colleagues were in factories in Europe last week, seeing whether we could feed a world population with lab-grown food, which is ridiculous in this day and age.

Everyone will be happy with the Mercosur deal if beef imports meet the same stringent regulations that we have to meet as regards the beef leaving our country, the EU gives a firm commitment that the auditors who will audit the beef imports will visit the farms and processors in South American countries on a regular basis, and these farmers adhere to the standards to which our farmers do. If this commitment is given, we can certainly compete because, as everybody knows, we have a grass-based system in this country.We have farmers who produce beef, lamb, chicken and pork to the highest of standards, better than any other country in the world. Our produce is sought after all over the world and our exports in weanlings and beef have increased over the past number of years, especially this year. We have seen the weanling trade almost triple compared to what it was last year, which says our EU competitors are happy to buy our produce at the quality we have produced it, with our traceability and our genetics.

There are a couple of other areas we would like to touch on, such as capital investment in farming and slurry storage. I welcome the slurry storage initiative. There are certain other areas my colleague Senator Murphy will come in on and some of the rest of the Senators want to speak on. I thank the Minister for engaging with us as colleagues. He has listened to us in the past regarding where we intend to go and what the future for agriculture in Ireland is.

I have some figures with me. We have to support what is the industry in this country. When we were in trouble in the last recession, it was the farming industry and our farmers who took us out of it. It is the one area this country relies on day in and day out. I thank the Minister for all the support he has put in during his Ministry so far and I look forward to working with him in the future. There are concerns but I am sure we can work through them going forward.