Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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378. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the degree to which farmers dependent on sheep rearing have experienced an income reduction in recent times; the measures in place or contemplated to address this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12193/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Both I and the Government are fully committed to maintaining a viable sheep sector as an integral element of a balanced regional economy. Sheep farmers are hugely committed to producing a world-class, safe and sustainable product and the Government recognises that.

Market prices are a commercial matter between suppliers and buyers and the Government has no role in determining commodity prices in the sheep sector. I do recognise the pressure that sheep farmers have been under as a result of the downturn in the markets over the past number of months.

My Department provides significant support to the sector under the new CAP Strategic Plan (CSP), both through a new targeted scheme for sheep farmers - the Sheep Improvement Scheme - and through the broad range of schemes in the CSP.

The new Sheep Improvement Scheme has over 19,000 applications submitted. The scheme replaces the previous Sheep Welfare Scheme but shares the same aim of improving animal health and welfare in the sector, with a 20% increase in the ewe payment rate - from €10 to €12 - compared to the previous scheme.

The CSP provides almost €10 billion in supports over the period to 2027 for farm families. Sheep farmers are eligible for several other schemes in addition to Sheep Improvement Scheme, including the ACRES and Organics schemes, which are particularly suited to sheep enterprises or mixed beef and sheep enterprises.

I have secured places for all 46,000 farmers in ACRES which I know will benefit to many sheep farmers.

Furthermore, support for early-stage producer organisations, which will be introduced later this year, will strengthen the position of sheep farmers in the supply chain.

At my request, the Food Vision Sheep Group met recently to discuss the sheep market situation. All the main stakeholders are represented on the Group and were invited to make submissions. I will carefully consider the Chair’s report on the outcome of the Group's deliberations and we continue to monitor the market situation in the sector..

While market returns have reduced from the record prices of recent years due to increased input costs, Teagasc forecasts suggest that 2023 family farm income for specialised sheep farms will be 2% down on 2022 at €19,500, due to the important role which direct payments play in contributing to sheep farm incomes.

However, I have now asked officials in my Department to examine what potential supports, if any, could be put in place to support our sheep farmers in light of the recent challenges. Budgets for 2023 have been set and are locked in place so any changes to this will require scoping out as well as diverting funds from previously agreed areas.

We have a sheep sector that is the envy of the world with our sheep farmers at the core of everything we do. I want to ensure there is a long-term and sustainable future for the sector.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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380. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the degree to which farmers dependent on pig production have experienced an income fluctuation in recent times; the measures in place or contemplated to address this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12195/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The continued development of the pigmeat sector is a priority for the Government, given the pivotal role the industry plays in the national economic context. The sector supports approximately 8,000 jobs spanning production, slaughter, processing, feed manufacture and services. I am acutely aware of the challenges pig farmers have faced over the past year. Price volatility is a significant issue for the pig sector, highlighting the cyclical nature of prices in the sector.

I have provided significant support to the pig sector over the past year in recognition of the enormous pressures they have had to contend with.

A total of €13 million in EU exceptional aid funding was made available for the Pig Exceptional Payment Scheme 2 (PEPS2), a voluntary scheme for pig farmers, to support the viability of this important sector.

The scheme opened for applications on 13th June 2022 and closed for applications on 11th July 2022. This scheme provided for a payment of up to €100,000 per farmer. The PEP2 scheme was in addition to the Pig Exceptional Payment Scheme which I announced in February 2022, funded by the Exchequer and notified under the agriculture de minimis state aid provisions, to support commercial pig farmers. This scheme provided for a payment of up to €20,000 per farmer.

All payments have now been processed under both schemes.

My Department continues to monitor the market situation including production costs in the sector and continues to engage at EU level to ensure a joined-up EU approach to the challenges arising from Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine.

My Department also engages with stakeholders through the Pig Roundtable,which Includes representatives from the farming and processing sectors, Teagasc, Bord Bia, and Department officials. The Roundtable's overarching objective is to serve as a vehicle for constructive discussion in driving forward the development of the sector as well as taking a high level approach to guiding the actions for the sector set out in Food Vision 2030.

Teagasc has intensified its dedicated, ongoing advisory supports being provided to pig farmers and is actively engaging with pig farmers to explore the options available to them and Bord Bia continues to promote quality assured Irish pigmeat in the domestic and export markets, with dedicated media advertising campaigns under way nationally, as well as EU-funded pigmeat promotion programmes running in key export markets.