Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)
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195. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the position as of July 2025 on the Programme for Government commitment to develop an extreme weather event assistance scheme for farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40704/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The unpredictable nature of extreme weather/flooding events, and the resulting impact on agriculture, does not lend itself to a ready-made scheme template, given that local effects vary with each event.

My Department in recent years has provided a number of schemes to support farmers who have been badly affected by extreme weather/flooding. These include the Shass Landslide, the Shannon Callows, the Unharvested Crop Loss Support, the Fodder Transport Support Measure and, most recently, the Cooley Flood Damage Relief Scheme.

These schemes were targeted at the impacts of extreme weather events which occurred at a specific time, and which negatively impacted on agriculture. Each scheme was different in its objectives and attributes, in order to provide the most targeted and beneficial support possible to the farmers affected, underlining the need for customised supports in each case. Each scheme was designed to take account of the unique circumstances that existed and to ensure that the particular needs of those most impacted were met.

Notwithstanding this, my Department continues to explore the possibility of having a common approach to such weather events with other State bodies and stakeholders.