Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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19. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his proposals to support the production of agricultural hemp; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11932/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy is aware, 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 consultation 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 scalability 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 in Ireland 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 undertaken by my Department 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 that can be further explored.

Hemp is included as an eligible crop under the Basic Income Support for Sustainability Scheme. However, the Deputy will be aware that current legislation in Ireland does not allow for the growing of hemp unless a specific license has been granted by the Health Products Regulatory Authority which operates under the auspices of the Department of Health.