Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I tabled this Commencement matter following a lot of engagement with small farmers. I visited a number of farms in the last few days in County Laois. The farms I am talking about are small, traditional land holdings with Land Commission houses. Such farms are common in counties Cavan and Kerry. I was in Cavan last week and was also in Kerry, Clare, Galway and Wicklow. On all occasions I was there by appointment and visited small land holdings. The Minister of State will be very familiar with such farms which are generally no bigger than 30 to 50 acres.

To be fair to these farmers, they run holistic, sustainable little farms. They are farms that have been successful at outdoor rearing of cattle all year round. It is possible to successfully out-winter cattle in certain places where the ground is firm. They have tailored their farming husbandry and methods to the tight constraints of their farms and are successful.

I spoke to a farmer in County Clare who has had no vet visit his farm in three years and whose animals have not been injected with any veterinary products. He has approximately 15 head of cattle and runs a very small but concentrated operation, with some off-farm supplementary income. His farm is sustainable, holistic and can be loosely described as organic in that there is no use of fertiliser and luckily, no veterinary interventions.

I acknowledge the success of the three green low-carbon agri-environment schemes, GLAS. They are good for farmers, farming and the environment. I also acknowledge the extension of GLAS, which some farmers availed of successfully. In the early stages of GLAS in 2017, ring feeders were in operation but their use was stopped. Under GLAS, a lot of farmers converted to low-input permanent pasture, LIPP, but the knock-on effect of LIPP was to reduce holdings in terms of grazing. That was a scheme for which funding was available.

Farmers want to continue the practice of out-wintering where possible. It is not always possible and very much depends on ground conditions and many other issues. They believe they can do it but want some assurances in the context of CAP. Who will represent the interests of the small farmers who operate in this way in the context of CAP? These farmers are engaged in safe farming practices. They are not spreading slurry at any time or using other fertilisers. They have a rotation grazing system in place and are careful not to overgraze. They are conscious that it is in their own interests to have a sustainable farm operation. Profitability is important to them but so is their land. They are the custodians of the land, which is important.

How can we support these farmers and who will do so? Can they continue to use ring-feeders, albeit moving them around the farm? Can they continue to use them in order to feed silage to their animals?

Pippa Hackett (Green Party)
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I thank Senator Boyhan for raising this matter. It is good to hear that he was in County Laois at the weekend.

Government Departments and their agencies work collaboratively to collectively protect water quality in Ireland. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is the lead authority for the nitrates regulations and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine implements and operates the nitrates derogation. The current nitrates action programme and nitrates derogation are in place from 2018 to 2021, inclusive. Ireland has commenced the process of reviewing the nitrates regulations. Initial consultation closed on 15 January this year but a second consultation is planned to commence shortly. I invite Senator Boyhan and any other interested parties to contribute to that consultation. In parallel, Ireland is meeting the European Commission and presenting at the EU's nitrates committee with a view to renewing a nitrates action programme for 2022.

Unlike other EU member states, Ireland has both nitrogen and phosphorous measures within the regulatory framework.This contributes to additional protection of waters and the environment. However, every farmer has a role to play in protection of the environment whether they are extensive or intensive farmers. While there are concessions within the current regulations, SI No. 605 of 2017, for the out-wintering of livestock, additional conditions are included such as: out-wintered livestock have free access at all times to the required land; the amount of manure produced on the holdings does not exceed an amount containing 140 kg of nitrogen per ha per annum; and severe damage to the surface of the land by poaching does not occur.

Small amounts of phosphorous, even from extensive systems of farming, can cause ecological issues to water quality and management of the landscape is critical to minimise any potential losses, especially sediment and phosphorous losses from mismanagement of ring feeders. Detailed research in the agricultural catchments programme has highlighted that soils, weather and farming practices have a significant influence on the nutrient concentrations at the local scale. This has important implications for selecting the right measures while also managing farm practices. Ireland's heterogenous landscape means that measures need to be targeted to achieve the best environmental outcomes.

The next CAP can influence interventions at farm level. The development of the CAP strategic plan involves a number of stages including strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, SWOT, analysis, needs assessment, intervention design, financial allocations, target setting and governance systems. The draft CAP strategic plan will also be subject to an ex-anteevaluation, strategic environmental assessment and appropriate assessment, including a public consultation on the draft CAP strategic plan and draft environmental report.

The Minister and Ministers of State have, with our officials, continued to engage extensively with stakeholders on the future of CAP. Consultations on the development of the CAP strategic plan will continue via the CAP consultative committee, which comprises representatives of the main stakeholders, including farm bodies, non-government organisations, NGOs, industry representatives and academic representation. It also includes representatives from many Departments and Government agencies, including Bord Bia, Teagasc and the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA. The committee has met on 18 occasions with further meetings planned throughout 2021. Details of the discussions to date are available on the Government website.

The negotiations on CAP are continuing at EU level with intensive negotiations between the European Parliament, Presidency and Commission continuing with a view to reaching agreement at the Council of Ministers meeting on 28 and 29 June. The Department is continuing to develop the CAP strategic plan in consultation with stakeholders through the CAP consultative committee and other forums. Consideration is currently being given to measures that will be supported under the new CAP strategic plan and stakeholders will be further consulted on this shortly. Following the consultation, the draft plan will then be subject to strategic environmental assessment, the ex-ante evaluation and further public consultation processes before submission to the Commission by the deadline of 1 January 2022.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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That was quite complex. I appreciate the Minister of State had to cover a lot of ground. However, the real focus I am attempting in my question is on small farmers throughout this country who are sustaining rural communities with a maximum of 40 acres and cannot be given permission to build for in-house cattle. That is why they are out-wintering in the first place. We have cut stone in beautiful parts of the world in the west of Ireland. These farms are small and sustainable. Their principal income does not derive from farming. Out-wintering is an essential part of farming that sustains these rural communities. They want to be able to keep small numbers of stock outside with no fertiliser or spreading of slurry. They are using their facilities. We want to keep these people on the land and in their communities in a sustainable way. I ask the Minister of State to look at some future guidelines that perhaps focus on this small cohort of farmers who wish to continue to be successful in farming in their rural communities up and down this country. I again thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive response.

Pippa Hackett (Green Party)
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I reassure the Senator that the Department and I are committed to supporting those small farmers. They are indeed vital to rural areas. Whether they are full time or part time does not matter much to me at all. It is about how the land is managed and the water protected. If we can do that through supporting small farmers to maintain livestock, it is even better. At the end of the day, it comes down to how the land is managed and the water protected. We will absolutely do everything we can to support farmers to keep farming in these areas. It is a part of Ireland we still have that is very unique and we need to cling to it. I am happy to engage further on this offline if the Senator wishes. It is a good plan and certainly something I support.

Erin McGreehan (Fianna Fail)
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As someone who comes from one of those farms, I am very glad to hear that Commencement matter.