Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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622. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of organic farming scheme participants by county in 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24470/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Below is the breakdown of the number of Organic Farming Scheme participants by county in 2022 and to date in 2023. The figures outlined in respect of 2023 are cumulative and represent the current total number of organic farming scheme participants.

I am very encouraged by the strong uptake in the Organic Farming Scheme over the last two years especially in the most recent tranche from December 2022 which saw 3,423 eligible applications received.

Of these, 2,131 are new to the Organic Farming Scheme and the remaining 1,292 applications represent those whose contracts finished on 31st December 2022. All eligible applicants have been approved into the scheme in February 2023. This brings the total number of participants in the scheme to 4,088, increasing two-fold from 2022.

The target set out in the Programme for Government is to achieve a rate of 7.5% of the total land area farmed organically by 2027 while the revised target set in the Climate Action plan is to achieve 10% organic land area by 2030.

There are now approximately 200,000 hectares under organic production, which represents 4% of the utilisable agricultural area. This brings us another step closer to our ambitious target and provides certainty to those who have chosen to switch to organic farming.