Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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147. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will increase the budget for the national liming programme to meet demand and ensure that farmers who applied in good faith do not lose out on the financial support; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21992/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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There has been a phenomenal level of demand for the National Liming Programme with 4.5 million tonnes sought by almost 41,000 applicants. To put this in context, the annual tonnage of lime applied nationally in recent years has ranged from 700,000 tonnes to 1.4 million tonnes. This includes applications of lime on those farms ineligible for support under the Programme.

The level of interest in the Programme underlines clearly how engaged farmers have become in addressing soil fertility and reducing their chemical fertiliser usage. I very much welcome how farmers have engaged with this new Programme and the fact applications are well ahead of farming norms.

Based on a payment rate of €16 per tonne and an average application of 111 tonnes, the applications received would require a budget of €72 million, if all lime sought was to be grant aided. Provision of €8 million was made for the Programme as part of Budget 2023. In line with the Programme’s Terms and Conditions, there will be a need to limit approvals to stay within the allocated budget for the Programme.

We are currently carrying out checks to confirm each applicant's eligibility prior to issuing letters of approval. This will influence the level of aid that can be granted per applicant.

Every eligible applicant will receive a Letter of Approval in the coming weeks informing them the quantity of lime they are approved to receive aid on.