Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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916. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide an update on development of the Statutory Instrument under the Veterinary Medicinal Products, Medicated Feeds and Fertilisers Regulation Bill 2023; if he will provide an indicative timeline and details of the engagement as part of the process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47966/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Earlier this year the I introduced the Veterinary Medicinal Products, Medicated Feed and Fertilisers Regulation Act (No. 21 of 2023) which was signed into law 11th July 2023.

One of the key elements of the Act is providing for matters relating to the regulation of veterinary medicinal products and medicated feed left to national law by new EU regulations which came into force in 2022. The Act provides for inter aliathe regulation of veterinary medicinal products and medicated feed and provides for the establishment of a national database to record veterinary prescriptions.

The Act also enables me to introduce regulations governing a number of areas in relation to veterinary medicines and medicated feed which I hope to do so in the coming weeks. I and my Department continue to engage with all relevant stakeholders in the development of this Statutory Instrument.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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917. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will advise on the all-island monitoring mechanisms his Department has put in place with regard to the national fertiliser database; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47967/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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My Department introduced a National Fertiliser Database to register all Professional Fertiliser End Users and Fertiliser Economic Operators and to record the movement of fertiliser from point of import or manufacture to end user.

There are highly integrated supply chains on the island of Ireland and the introduction of the National Fertiliser Database will not disrupt them. Farmers and other Professional Fertiliser End Users can continue to purchase fertiliser from Northern Ireland and vice versa and my Department is keen to ensure that trade carries on as normal.

My Department is including on-site inspections along the supply chain as part of its monitoring and verification programme to ensure compliance with the regulatory requirements, including in relation to trade with Northern Ireland.

Whilst there is no equivalent regulatory framework in place to record and track sales of fertiliser in Northern Ireland, there is regular communication with counterparts in Northern Ireland.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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918. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will advise on engagement he has had regarding the provision of funding to underpin the development and roll-out of a Carbon Farming Framework; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47968/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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At the national level, Carbon Farming is an important enabler for the agriculture and land use sectors to meet our climate targets. As set out in the most recent Climate Action Plan (2023), I have committed to the development of an enabling framework which can potentially reward farmers and land owners partaking in emission mitigating and carbon removal activities.

It is important that the groundwork be completed to set up a high quality, transparent and successful governance structure which will need to align with and compliment the EU Commission proposal for a Union certification framework for carbon removals (published on 30 November 2022). In this regard, I launched a public consultation to guide the scope of the development of a National Carbon Farming Framework which closed on Friday 3 November.

In parallel to the public consultation, a multi-stakeholder working group which includes industry representation has been established to oversee the development of the Framework. The findings of the public consultation will inform the working group's decision making on the scope of the Framework. Key areas of focus include identifying existing knowledge relevant to the establishment of baseline data, making recommendations for pathways to address knowledge gaps, assessing future auditing requirements, the development of voluntary carbon codes and the identification of best practice governance structures.

Also key to developing a carbon farming model in Ireland is research. To that end, I have provided funding for initiatives such as the establishment of the National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory (NASCO), the Pilot Soil Sampling Programme, and the Farm Environmental Scheme along with several European Innovation Partnership (EIP) research projects, to provide the required data for the development of future policy options in this area. An example is the RePEAT project working to accurately identify the extent of organic soils under agricultural management while investment in European Innovation Projects in the Midlands is developing a results-based agri-environmental model to reward farmers for implementing sustainable management practices on Peat soils.

My department is supporting the Digital Sustainability Platform (AgNav) in co-operation with Teagasc, the Irish Cattle Breeding Association (ICBF) and Bord Bia, in developing a new digital platform to facilitate a robust whole farm sustainability assessment and “counting” of carbon emissions and removals. AgNav will facilitate access to reliable and robust estimates of carbon for each individual farm and accurately provide baseline figures for farmers using verified data. Platforms such as this can underpin the adoption of a Carbon Farming Framework in Ireland and can showcase how best practice management techniques can be adopted on a wide range of enterprises and soil types. A well-functioning National Carbon Farming Framework that provides confidence, verification and certification is essential to generate a potential additional income source for our farmers in the actions they take to remove and store carbon in our soils, forests, grasslands, croplands, and hedgerows. In the meantime, we will continue to provide financial support for farmers providing eco system's services through a variety of EU and nationally funded schemes.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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919. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has considered the introduction of taxation on grain imported to Ireland from outside of the EU, with regard to ensuring fair prices for domestic grain production; if he has engaged with the Minister for Finance on such a measure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47969/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Irish tillage sector is an important and integral component of the Agri-Food industry which I have strongly supported in recent years.

The importance of the tillage sector is recognised in the Food Vision 2030 strategy and in the Climate Action Plan 2023 where a target is set out to increase the area in tillage to 400,000 hectares. This is an ambitious target, but I firmly believe that it is well-founded given that the sector is one of the most carbon efficient sectors of Irish agriculture.

To help achieve this target, I recently established the Food Vision 2030 Tillage Group. This group, which brings together all relevant stakeholders, has been established to advance the actions for the tillage sector identified in the Food Vision 2030 strategy, while also taking account of the targets set out in the Farm to Fork Strategy and the Climate Action Plan 2023.

The Tillage Group is made up of a wide range of stakeholders from across the industry and is tasked with setting out a roadmap for the sustainable growth and development of the sector.

Taxation of grain imports into the European Union, including into Ireland, is not a national competence with taxation into the single market subject to multi-lateral agreements at EU level.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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920. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has considered the introduction of crop insurance, given the experience the tillage sector has had with regard to weather conditions and crop loss this year; if he is aware of or has engaged with insurance companies which may be interested in providing such insurance; if he has engaged with the Minister for Finance on same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47970/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I am acutely aware and fully appreciate the many challenges that tillage growers have experienced in 2023 as a result of unfavourable weather conditions throughout the crop growing season, and I am aware of some unharvested crops in a number of areas.

The case for additional risk management tools such as voluntary insurance schemes were examined in the preparation of Ireland's CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027. There was the option to allocate some funding towards mutual insurance type schemes to provide cover for the loss of crops due to adverse weather. However, there was little support for this proposal from stakeholders and it was not included in the agreed CAP Strategic Plan.

In relation to the introduction of crop insurance, this is primarily a matter for the tillage sector. I would strongly encourage engagement by the sector with insurance companies to see if commercial crop insurance can be provided so that the sector can be protected from potential losses in the future due to adverse weather.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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921. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the Government will provide the 200% top-up allowed under the Exceptional Aid support from the EU; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47983/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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In recognition of the difficulties experienced by the tillage and horticultural sectors this year, I secured €9.53 million from the EU Agricultural Reserve of which €7.147 million will go to support the tillage sector and €2.382 to the horticulture sector.

The tillage allocation will be distributed as a one-off flat rate payment of €28 per hectare on the area of oilseed rape, winter and spring barley, wheat and rye as declared under the Basic Income Support for Sustainability Scheme (BISS) in 2023. The minimum area for payment will be 5 hectares and will be capped at 100 hectares per grower.

The horticulture allocation targets ‘High-wire’ protected glass house producers of tomatoes, cucumber and peppers, field crop growers, brown mushroom growers, heated strawberry growers, vertically farmed greens and commercial apple growers

In Budget 2024, I secured an additional €8 million funding which will be specifically targeted at the tillage sector. I have been engaging with farming organisations on the best way to utilise this funding and will be providing details on this shortly.