Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)
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2148. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the progress made to date by his Department to add new people into the Irish horticulture sector, as per the Programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44143/25]

Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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One of the commitments in the programme for government with respect to Horticulture is to 'work to increase new people into the sector, providing more education and training places'.

This commitment has been progressed through a review of horticulture curriculum under Key Strategic Action 4 of the National Strategy for Horticulture 2023-2027. My Department engaged external consultants Dr. Owen Doyle and Mr. Brian Arnold to carry out a review of the horticulture curriculum. I was pleased to launch the Horticulture Education Review Report at Bord Bia Bloom Festival on 30th May 2025. The report contains five recommendations to ensure horticulture course availability and suitability for a modern dynamic sector, enabling the educational platforms to attract talent that will drive the horticulture sector to realise its true potential. The report is available on the gov.ie web-site. The next step to progress these recommendations is to appoint a Chair of the Horticulture Education Leadership Group (HELG). This will take place soon.