Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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275. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will commission a social, economic and environmental impact assessment of factory-controlled feedlots. [11762/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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It is important to clarify that there is no legal definition of a feedlot herd. The Department defines certain herds as Controlled Finishing Units (CFUs) in the context of the Bovine TB Eradication Programme. This definition is unique to that programme and does not necessarily mirror the use of the term "feedlot" by the public and/or other institutions. CFUs are subject to enhanced biosecurity measures as part of the TB Programme and can only sell direct to slaughter.

My Department's statutory responsibility in the context of meat plants is to approve slaughter plants in accordance with the European Union (Food and Feed Hygiene) Regulations 2020 and to ensure that the DAFM-approved plants operate in compliance with the EU's food hygiene legislation, animal health and animal welfare standards.

My Department’s remit in relation to controlled finishing units is to ensure that they operate in compliance with the EU's animal health and animal welfare standards.

I have acknowledged the importance of transparency in the market for primary producers and my Department is progressing several initiatives to increase transparency. Central to my commitment to transparency is the introduction of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022, which is currently going through the legislative process. This Bill provides for the establishment of a new, independent statutory office, An Rialálaí Agraibhia,which will promote fairness and transparency in the agri-food supply chain by enforcing unfair trading legislation and by carrying out an independent price and market analysis reporting function.

As the Deputy will be aware, my Department and Bord Bia already publish a wide range of price and comparative market data on a weekly basis.

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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276. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his proposals to support the production of agricultural hemp. [11763/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The current Programme for Government includes a commitment to fully explore fibre crops such as hemp and consider whether these crops have a viable market. To fulfil that commitment, my Department carried out a consultative process in 2021 to examine the commercial viability of growing hemp for fibre use only. The report on this consultation was published in December 2022.

As part of the consultation, stakeholders were invited to consider a number of questions including existing markets, the strengths and weaknesses of fibre crops and the scaleability of the Irish fibre crop/hemp industry, taking into account the market size and value, industry processing capacity and economic returns along the supply chain.

The main finding of the report was that the growing of fibre crops such as hemp for the purposes of fibre production only is not currently viable in Ireland. However, hemp can be successfully grown here and offers opportunities for diversification and crop rotation while delivering environmental benefits. Potential markets also exist for hemp fibre with its use in the construction industry offering the most significant opportunity.

While the overall outcome of the consultation is that the growing of fibre crops such as hemp is not currently viable, it is a matter for the industry to address and bring forward a proposal containing viable options for consideration.

Hemp is included as an eligible crop under the Basic Income Support for Sustainability Scheme (BISS). However, the growing of hemp requires a specific license from the Health Products Regulatory Authority which operates under the auspices of the Department of Health.