Brian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party)
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43. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount by which the area of agricultural land under organic production has increased since the Government took office; and when next the organic farming scheme will reopen for new entrants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38246/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I am fully committed to achieving our target under the current Programme for Government which is to align the utilisable agricultural area under organic production in Ireland with the EU average of 7.5%. In 2021, I re-opened the Organic Farming Scheme and a total of 317 applications were received. Of these, 300 received approval bringing in approximately 12,000 hectares of additional land under organic production.

For 2022, I secured a budget allocation of €21 million for the Organic Farming Scheme, an increase of €5 million from the previous year. I introduced changes to the scheme by reducing the required stocking rate and increasing the cap on the higher rate of payment from 60 hectares to 70 hectares. I believe these measures were successful in encouraging new entrants to transition to organic farming.

In April 2022, the scheme opened once again, 380 applications were received representing a 20% increase in applications from 2021. These applications are currently being processed and approval letters will issue later this year.

However, I am confident that the budget I secured for the Organic Farming Scheme this year will be sufficient to accommodate all eligible applications. It is anticipated that these applications will bring in an additional 17,000 hectares of land giving an overall increase of 35% of land being farmed organically since the government took office.

It is expected the scheme will re-open in October 2022 for applicants to apply under the new CAP. I have proposed an indicative allocation of €256 million to continue the development and growth of the organic sector, which represents a five-fold increase on funding for organics under the previous CAP.

This level of funding will facilitate enhanced payments to organic farmers across all sectors, which will further support maintenance and conversion to Organic Farming and assist in achieving our target of 7.5% of land cover under organic production by 2027.