Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent)
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34. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to use the new Common Agricultural Policy measures to increase the area of land in use for organic farming; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53138/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I believe that the proposals presented by the European Commission in the CAP reform package are very positive in relation to the Organic Sector. For the first time in the Common Agricultural Policy there are provisions set out under Article 30 of the current draft Rural Development Regulation to support the conversion to or the maintenance of Organic Farming practices and methods. The greening provisions of the Direct Payments Regulation also recognise the important contribution made by organic farming.

Preparatory work for the next Rural Development Programme (RDP) 2014 – 2020 is well underway and the question of a new organic scheme is being considered in that context. Under the draft Rural Development Regulation, my Department must undertake an ex ante evaluation, a public consultation, a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) a needs assessment, a strategic environmental assessment (SEA) and an appropriate assessment (AA) in developing our Rural Development Programme. An independent evaluator has been contracted to prepare the ex-ante evaluation report, SEA and AA and to advise on the SWOT analysis.

An initial consultation process was launched in 2012, and written submissions were received from over 80 stakeholders. These submissions have been analysed by my Department and have fed into the development of the SWOT and needs analyses. A second consultation was held in July, where stakeholders attended a full day workshop on the draft SWOT and needs analyses. Based on the outcome of these processes, the drafting of a new programme is being advanced in my Department, and it is intended that further stakeholder consultation will form part of this.