Michael Cahill (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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1792. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will introduce a bounty for shooting deer, similar to the scheme that was in place many years ago for foxes and seals (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46512/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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My Department, along with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage established the Irish Deer Management Strategy group to develop a strategy for the sustainable management of deer in Ireland. The Group comprised representatives from my Department, National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) and Coillte.  A report was published into “Developing a Sustainable Deer Management Strategy for Ireland” in December 2023. 

The report listed 16 Actions, 8 of which are recommended in the short term and 8 of which are recommended in the medium term. These recommended actions address a wide range of issues from hunter training and forest design to land use management and the venison market. The report concluded that a formal structure was required to manage deer in Ireland, which involved the appointment of a Programme Manager to implement the recommendations of the report and the establishment of local deer management units in known hotspot areas. There is no plan currently to introduce a bounty for shooting deer.  

My Department is committed to progressing the implementation of the actions identified by the Irish Deer Management Strategy Group (IDMSG) in this report.  The Programme Manager, who has been appointed, will work closely with the IDMSG, DAFM and the National Parks and Wildlife Service in prioritising and implementation of the short term recommendations identified in the report.   

The locations of the deer management units (DMUs) have been finalised. The locations of the DMUs is in response to what might be referred to as deer hotspots. These DMUs aim to give the best geographic coverage in order to reduce the density of deer in these areas which includes County Kerry. 

The Programme Manager, through the local deer management units, will be liaising with licensed hunters and landowners in relation to the management of deer populations within the deer management units. Deer can continue to be culled by appropriate licensed hunters within the hunting season and with the use of Section 42 licenses issued by the National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) outside the hunting season.  

The issuing of licences for the control of deer is an operational matter for the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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1793. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will consider broadening the qualifying terms of the forgotten farmers scheme in Budget 2026, including changing the date of birth eligibility to 1 January 1970; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46513/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The application window for the scheme to support Long Established Young Farmers, more commonly referred to as forgotten farmers, has closed and there are no plans to extend the eligibility criteria or to provide for another scheme in future years. 

Since the time my Department was first approached in 2015 with regard to the group commonly referred to as forgotten farmers, the group was defined as young farmers who were under the age of 40 in 2015, had established their holdings prior to 2008 and were not eligible for young farmer supports under the CAP from 2015. The request for support for the forgotten farmer group in 2015 was for inclusion under the Basic Payment Scheme National Reserve as a group suffering from specific disadvantage. This definition of forgotten farmer has remained consistent since 2015.  

The CAP from 2015 provided supports to young farmers who had established their holdings from 2010. Furthermore, in recognition of the withdrawal of the Installation Aid Scheme in October 2008, and following my Department’s consultation with the EU Commission, the then Minister announced in March 2015 that the group commonly known as ‘Old Young Farmers’, who established their holding between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2009, and who, due to the timeframe of setting up their holding did not benefit from either Installation Aid or the Young Farmer category of the National Reserve, could be considered as a ‘group suffering from specific disadvantage’. The result was that this group was eligible to apply for support under the National Reserve measure of the 2015 Basic Payment Scheme. 

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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1794. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will urgently review his Department’s plans to introduce two-step verification to login to the AgFood portal, given that two-step verification will prevent agricultural consultants from logging in on behalf of their client farmers and this will be of major disadvantage to farmers who have little or no IT skills; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46535/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The introduction by my Department of two-step verification for AgFood portal accounts will not prevent an agricultural consultant from logging in on behalf of a client farmer.

Louis O'Hara (Galway East, Sinn Fein)
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1795. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to clarify whether a non-organic young farmer is eligible for the lower grant rate, 40 percent rate, under the terms of the organic capital investment scheme of TAMS 3 (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46625/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The Organic Capital Investment Scheme is one of eleven schemes under the Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Scheme (TAMS 3).  The Organic Capital Investment scheme is only open to organic farmers who hold a current organic licence and are registered with one of the two Organic Control Bodies that operate in Ireland.  Non-organic farmers are not eligible to apply for the Organic Capital Investment Scheme.

A non-organic farmer may be eligible for a TAMS 3 grant in one of the other ten TAMS 3 schemes, with rates ranging from 40% to 70 % depending on the particular scheme and the farmer's individual circumstances.  All details of available schemes and grant rates are available on my Department's website.