Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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79. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when the promised changes to the income supplement scheme under the bovine TB programme will come into effect, whereby these changes are to be backdated to 1 February 2023, given farmers whose herd have been identified with tuberculosis this year may be missing out on a month's income support from his Department as a result of the timeline between when TB was identified in the herd and when the infected livestock were removed from the farm; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46500/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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As part of the work of the TB Forum, a dedicated Financial Working Group was established to review the financial modelling of various elements of the Bovine TB Eradication programme.

In March 2023, this Financial Working Group reached agreement on various enhancements to the Income Supplement Scheme, the Hardship Grant and the Depopulation Grant as well as enhanced ceilings for select animals being removed as part of the On Farm Market Valuation Scheme.

The enhancement of rates is linked to an increased contribution of farmer levies towards additional expenditure on these schemes. All of the agreed changes will be backdated to February 1st 2023.

In addition to the enhancement of rates, the financial working group also expanded the eligibility criteria under the Income Supplement Scheme and Hardship Grant Schemes. Herds in receipt of Income Supplement prior to February 2023 were eligible for payment from the date the reactor animals removed from their holding reached 10% of the overall herd. Payments were also made in respect of whole months only.

I am pleased to confirm that as part of the agreement of the Financial Working Group, from February 1st 2023 onwards, herds will be eligible for Income Supplement from the date where 10% or more of their herd are identified as reactors and payments will now include pro rata rates in respect of partial months.

The agreed enhancements to the 4 schemes requires substantial IT development. My Departments IT team are at an advanced stage of these upgrade works and it is envisaged that the updated systems will be operational in the coming weeks. Once the new IT system is operational, my department will identify all eligible herds and automatically issue balancing payments in due course.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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80. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide details of improvements to the sheep scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47002/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department provides significant support to the sheep sector under the CAP Strategic Plan (CSP), through a targeted scheme for sheep farmers - the Sheep Improvement Scheme (SIS) - as well as other CSP interventions such as ACRES and the Organic Farming Scheme which are open to both specialist sheep and mixed beef and sheep enterprises. This is a priority sector for me and was a key focus of mine in the recent budget negotiations.

In addition to the substantial payments under the CSP specifically targeted at the drystock sector, I have also been able to secure a further €15m of exchequer funding for the sheep sector for 2024. This additional funding, when combined with the current €12 payment to SIS participants, will result in a payment equivalent to €20 per ewe to beneficiaries in 2024. This increased provision will be the highest ever payment provided to our vitally important sheep sector.

In announcing details of my Department’s budget for 2024, I emphasised that my primary focus was on protecting farmer incomes while at the same time funding the agriculture sector’s environmental ambition and on-farm sustainability. The significantly improved payment announced in Budget 2024 will assist in alleviating input cost inflation for sheep enterprises which have greatly impacted on their profitability despite the record returns available to producers in recent years.

My officials are currently considering the precise modalities and the potential measures by which the increased exchequer funding can best be directed to sheep farmers in 2024 taking into account EU State Aid rules governing these types of support schemes. I will be in a position to announce further details on measure design and implementation arrangements once this process has concluded and outline how this additional €15m can be delivered to sheep farmers in 2024.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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82. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will advise why certain growers are excluded from the horticulture support scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46730/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I am acutely aware and fully appreciate the many challenges that horticulture growers have experienced in 2023 as a result of continued high costs of production and reduced output prices. These challenges were further compounded by the unfavourable weather conditions throughout the 2023 growing season. In recognition of these challenges I secured €2.382 million under the EU Agricultural Reserve for the horticulture sector.

While it is recognised that all horticulture growers have been impacted by the challenges facing the sector the available evidence indicated that the sectors eligible for the scheme (high-wire glass house grown tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, brown mushrooms, field vegetables (excluding potatoes) and field grown salad crops, energy reliant protected crops (heated strawberries and vertically grown greens) and apples) were particularly compromised in terms of economic viability, while the potato, white mushroom and unheated strawberry sub-sectors continued to be financially viable.

Given the limited fund allocation it was not possible to support all horticulture sub-sectors and as a result the fund is targeted at those sub-sectors whose economic viability is compromised due to the continued challenges encountered. The scheme is designed to ensure the short-term security and thus the long-term viability of these sub-sectors.

The Horticulture Crisis Fund is now open for applications until 1st November 2023.

Earlier this year, together with my colleague, Minister Pippa Hackett, I launched the National Strategy for Horticulture 2023-2027. The stakeholder led Strategy sets down a clear vision to grow a more profitable, value-added sector, driven by innovation and sustainability and provides a roadmap for the sector to achieve this potential. I want to see this sector grow and flourish in the years ahead and my Department, together with stakeholders, continues to explore a number of avenues to help the sector overcome challenges it currently faces.