Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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195. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of organic farming scheme applications that have been received from County Carlow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26917/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The current Programme for Government is committed to aligning Ireland’s organic land area with that of the EU average of 7.5%, which is also consistent with the target proposed by Agri-Food Strategy 2030. I am fully committed to attaining this ambitious goal and all our organic policies are designed with this in mind.

A budget of €21 million was allocated to the Organic Farming Scheme in 2022, an increase of €5 million from the previous year. This allocation supports the 1,734 existing contracts in the Organic Farming Scheme, of which eight are from County Carlow, while also providing for an extra 50,000 hectares converting to organic production in 2022.

The Organic Farming Scheme opened again for new applications on 9th February 2022 and closed on 22nd April 2022.  An additional 380 applications were received, of which four applications were from County Carlow. The eligibility of these applications will be assessed once the Basic Payment Scheme applications are verified, which will determine approval into the Organic Farming Scheme.