Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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45. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will advise on plans to change existing rules around herd owners and herd keepers, given the impact the current process has on women in agriculture and young farmers in farm partnerships; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [55408/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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A herdnumber is an administrative device, issued by my Department for the purposes of disease control. A herdnumber, therefore, does not imply ownership of land or ownership of any animals tested or kept under that herdnumber.

There are two roles associated with a herdnumber - a herdowner and a keeper.

The role of keeper can only be assigned to one natural person over the age of 18. This is to ensure that one natural person is assigned clear responsibility and accountability for the health and welfare of the animals.

Under existing criteria, it is however possible for more than one person to be registered as herdowner. This system has been in place for many years and there are many examples of herd numbers being associated with multiple registered herd owners.

Officials in my Department have been engaged with stakeholders on their concerns regarding herd numbers. My Department will continue to consider this important issue and engage with relevant stakeholders.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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46. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will detail the research being undertaken into the quantification and reward of environmental services generated by actions at farm level to allow water tables rise on organic soils, to switch from livestock to forestry; and whether this can lead to a more extensive financial framework than the present ACRES scheme. [55782/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Rewarding ecosystem services through 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 landowners engaged in emission mitigating and carbon removal activities.

Research is key to developing a carbon farming model in Ireland. 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. 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.

Under the Just Transition Fund 2021-2027, my Department has allocated €15m funding for a Midlands Carbon Catchment Study. The study will seek to research innovative ways of reducing emissions from organic soils by working with farmers at a catchment level to test new and novel ways of alternative, sustainable land management, and to explore new economic models such as carbon farming.

Furthermore, my Department is supporting the Digital Sustainability Platform (AgNav) in co-operation with Teagasc, the Irish Cattle Breeding Association (ICBF) and Bord Bia. This is a new digital platform to facilitate a robust whole farm sustainability assessment and “counting” of carbon emissions and removals. 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.