Written Answers Nos. 240 - 248
240. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the degree to which he expects to enhance incomes for farm families over the next five years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21576/16]
View answerFood Wise 2025, the new ten year strategy for the agrifood sector published in July last year identifies the opportunities and challenges facing the sector and provides an enabling strategy that will allow the sector to grow and prosper. Food Wise includes more than 400 specific recommendations, spread across the cross-cutting themes of sustainability, innovation, human capital, market development and competitiveness; as well as specific sectorial recommendations.
The implementation process for any strategy is vital for its success. I chair the Food Wise High Level Implementation Committee (HLIC), with high level representatives from all the relevant Departments and State agencies. The committee reviews progress on detailed actions on a quarterly basis, in order to identify and solve problems quickly. Stakeholders regularly present to the committee meetings on their priorities for particular sectors or themes and by the end of this year, the HLIC will have reviewed in detail progress on the five cross-cutting themes and the twelve individual sectors outlined in Food Wise 2025. So it is very much a live and continuously updated process. For example, the HLIC convened, following the UK vote to leave the EU, to agree on a coordinated approach for the agrifood sector.
I launched a first year progress report on Food Wise 2025 entitled ‘Steps to Success 2016’ earlier today. Of the 330 detailed actions which were due to commence in 2015 or 2016, 28% have been achieved or substantial action has been undertaken; and a further 67% have commenced and are progressing well. A detailed report on the status of Food Wise 2025 actions is available on my Department’s website together with the first year progress report.
As a small open economy which exports the vast bulk of its main agricultural commodities, Ireland will always feel the effects of volatility on world markets. However, there are measures in place to help Irish farmers through these periods. I believe that moving up the value chain where possible, in terms of the type of products sold and how they are produced, is an important insulation against volatility. The Food Wise strategy for the sector contains detailed recommendations aimed at improving value added and productivity at farm and food industry level through a focus on sustainability, efficiency, knowledge transfer and innovation.
I recently met with the CEOs of the main banks and stressed the need for them to be flexible in the context of increased income volatility. The banks told me that they recognise and are responding to the challenges facing farmers in this regard. They all offer options such as moving loans to interest-only repayments and extending overdraft facilities. They all stated that they are committed to the sector for the long term and are aware its cyclical nature. I also took the opportunity to question the banks on the relatively high interest rates for SMEs in Ireland compared with those across Europe.
Partly in response to these relatively high interest rates, my Department has just published a request for tender to procure an ex-ante assessment to assess any current failures in the access to finance market in Ireland. This is a first step towards the potential introduction of Financial Instruments under the EAFRD Rural Development Programme and the EMFF Seafood Development Operational Programme.
Access to finance was discussed at the Dairy Forum in June, with an exchange of views with the main banks now a part of the agenda at each meeting. Before the meeting I formally launched the Dairy Forum’s ’Financial Management Initiative’, a programme of cash flow and financial management training and advice for dairy farmers, which is an appropriate and practical initiative at this time.
Access to finance was also discussed at last month’s meeting of the Food Wise 2025 High Level Implementation Committee, which heard from representatives of the SBCI and the Irish Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF). Both are now active in the market. In its last report in January, the SBCI stated that of the 4,619 loans amounting to €172 million drawn down by SMEs, 26% had been accessed by agriculture, which is currently its largest sector.
My Department will continue to engage with the Department of Finance on key agri-taxation policy objectives, including responses to income and price volatility.
While there are no specific risk management tools included in the Rural Development Programme, risk management is one of the topics covered by Knowledge Transfer Groups. Animal disease risks are covered by the Targeted Animal Health and Welfare Advisory measure.
Fixed price contracts are increasingly becoming a feature of the producer/processor relationship in the dairy sector, with numerous milk purchasers offering such contracts, which provide producers with the opportunity to lock in prices over the medium term, taking costs of production into account. Such relationships are a welcome development in terms of their potential to mitigate volatility.
241. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the measures he is taking to ensure beef farmers receive a fair price for their produce following recent price dips; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21604/16]
View answerMy role as Minister in relation to the beef sector is to create a policy and support environment that allows it to flourish in line with standard market principles and delivers the best possible returns for all participants in the sector. I am guided in this context by the long-term sectorial development strategies as set out in Food Wise 2025 and I am confident that these initiatives, in conjunction with the Rural Development Programme, will lead to continued growth in terms of profitability and efficiency of the sector as whole. The primary determinant of prices in any market is the relationship between supply and demand. As with any Minister for Agriculture in the EU, I can have no role in beef prices in Ireland.
It is a clear objective of mine to ensure that this sector continues to receive the necessary support to address the challenge of profitability within the sector. In addition to the Basic Payment Scheme, a range of measures introduced under the Rural Development Programme helps to improve efficiency and profitability on farm and to support environmentally sustainable production. This includes programmes such as TAMS, GLAS, Knowledge Transfer Groups and of course the Beef Data and Genomics Programme.
The Beef Data and Genomics Programme, or BDGP, has an allocation of €300 million and aims to address the widely acknowledged weaknesses in the maternal genetics of the suckler herd in Ireland, reduce the Greenhouse Gas intensity of Irish beef production and most importantly to make a positive contribution to the future viability of suckler farmers.
Furthermore, in May I launched the Knowledge Transfer Group Scheme which has been allocated €100 million from the Rural Development Fund for the roll-out of Knowledge Transfer Groups across a range of enterprises, including beef and suckler farmers. Farmers participating in such groups will receive a payment of €750 per annum.
As an exporting country, accessing new markets is crucial to the long-term sustainability of our beef sector. In 2015 Ireland exported an estimated €2.2 billion, or approximately 500,000 tonnes of beef, to almost 80 countries around the globe and my role as Minister is to facilitate market access and to enable Irish exporters to take advantage of the opportunities that arise. I was delighted to announce last week the decision of the US authorities to extend their approval for Irish beef to include manufacturing beef/beef intended for grinding (BIFG). This marks the culmination of over a year of intensive work between my Department and its US counterparts on a range of technical matters to extend access to manufacturing beef/ BIFG. We are currently in the process of trying to secure beef access to other third countries including, inter alia, China, South Korea, Israel, Ukraine and Vietnam. It is my intention to continue to focus on developing as many third country markets as possible in order to provide exporters as many commercial opportunities as possible in a competitive global marketplace.
242. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the rationale for a sole supplier for the electronic identification tagging for cattle; if he considered a model for multiple suppliers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21605/16]
View answerA Request for Tenders (RFT) seeking a single supplier for the provision of a service to supply a suite of bovine tags including conventional tags, tissue tags (that provide for tissue sampling for BVD detection and DNA analysis), electronic tags and electronic bolus was published in May.
The policy of seeking a single supplier for cattle tags in the public procurement competition is deemed to be the optimum mechanism for ensuring that ear tags are made available to Irish farmers at a competitive price on the grounds that a single supplier, selected on the basis of a competitive tender and benefitting from economies of scale, is likely to make bovine tags available to herd keepers at the most competitive price, while at the same time meeting the identification requirements of the bovine sector in Ireland for superior quality bovine tags that meet the high standards needed to support a secure bovine identification and traceability system. The policy of seeking a single supplier has been endorsed by the main farming organisations (IFA and ICMSA).
The deadline for the receipt of tenders has been extended to enable my Department examine a number of issues raised by potential suppliers of tags.
243. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the action he will take to ensure tillage farmers break even on their produce in 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21606/16]
View answerThe tillage sector is an important and integral component of the Agrifood industry, contributing significant value added to exports of food and drink, which reached a record high of €10.8 billion in 2015. My commitment to this sector is underlined in the Food Wise 2025 report for the industry. This action plan for the Agrifood sector contains over 400 recommendations and identifies many areas for growth in the tillage sector, particularly in the very important and successful distilling and craft brewing industries. The report also identifies growth opportunities for expanded production of native malt, high-end health foods and value-added niche foods and ingredients.
In order to increase the availability of native grown protein crops for inclusion in animal feeds, I introduced a protein aid scheme in 2015, as part of the implementation of the reformed CAP package in Ireland. €3 million was set aside annually for this scheme and the rate of payment has been increased to €280/ha.
The Basic Payment and Greening Scheme which is operational since 2015 contains provisions supportive of the tillage sector, notably with regard to crop diversification provisions and requirements for Ecological Focus Areas.
The Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 contains measures to support the establishment of Knowledge Transfer Groups across the main farming sectors. A Knowledge Transfer Group for the Tillage sector is currently being rolled out.
Formal approval from the EU Commission to an amendment to the Rural Development Programme 2014 – 2020 to provide for the inclusion of a Tillage Scheme under the suite of measures provided under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme was received on 23 June 2016 and the Scheme will be opened for applications later this year.
In addition to these specific recent initiatives, my Department operates ongoing schemes and programmes in relation to seed certification and crop variety evaluation. These schemes ensure that only the best quality seed is available to growers and that Irish cereal yields remain among the highest in the world. However, it is important to acknowledge that cereal prices are highly sensitive to global supply and demand and that volatility in prices is likely to remain a constant feature of the Irish cereal market.
244. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on ring-fencing moneys under the sheep-fencing element of the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme 2 for farmers with flocks only; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21607/16]
View answerSheep fencing has been included as an investment item under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS II). As set out in the Terms and Conditions of the TAMS II Animal Welfare, Safety and Nutrient Scheme, the Young Farmers’ Capital Investment Scheme and the Organic Capital Investment applicants are required to use the investment items for the purposes for which they were intended and penalties are provided for in cases where it is found that an investment item has not been used for the purposes intended.
245. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on the expected European Union dairy package to be announced at the next European Council meeting relating to voluntary milk supply measures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21608/16]
View answerI am acutely conscious of the pressure farmers are under at present, and I can assure the Deputy that I am committed to exploring all of the appropriate options for providing assistance to the farm sector through current difficulties. A prolonged period of volatility in dairy markets has been in evidence in recent times. However it is important to remember that the medium term prospects for global dairy markets are good. How we mitigate the current volatility is the challenge. Volatility in dairy markets is a global problem, an EU problem and an Irish problem for which there is no single silver bullet. Fixed price and margin contracts, futures markets and access to increasingly flexible forms of credits are all part of the toolkit that will be required. In this respect we must continue to work with industry and the financial services sector at a national level to ensure resilience is built into the sector in the current period of volatility and going forward, strengthening our position within the global market.
Voluntary supply reduction is one option that has been advocated at EU level by some but I am of the view that this would certainly not be in the best interest of the Irish dairy sector. Regulating supply in times of price downturns is not an appropriate response because measures taken only within the EU will disadvantage EU farmers and co-ops, will undermine efficient production and will adversely affect the ability of farmers to benefit when the market turns in their favour. It would be a backward step to consider such measures now. This is also the shared view of the vast majority of the participants at the most recent meeting of the Dairy Forum on 21 June last where we discussed this issue in some detail. I do not believe that there is demand from the co-operative sector in Ireland for a supply control measure.
I am anxious that we must focus on other support measures that can play a role in supporting the sector and it is vital that we continue to work closely with the Commission and all other key stakeholders in this regard. Having discussed issues with national stakeholders, I am currently working with Commissioner Hogan and other EU Ministers with a view to finding pragmatic, realistic and workable solutions to these ongoing difficulties.
I believe our focus must remain on providing real, practical and immediate assistance for farmers. In addition to intervention, I have called for the deployment of other measures that will provide real benefit for farmers in the short-term in particular, the bringing forward of the delivery date for direct payments. Such a measure will be of immediate assistance to farmers in acting as a source of immediate cash flow and a buffer to ongoing volatility.
I have also asked the Commissioner to consider the deployment of a targeted aid package, similar to that provided last September. The September package gave considerable flexibility to Member States to adopt responses suited to their national circumstances, and I believe such a measure, with appropriate flexibility could play a further important role in 2016.
A number of other market support measures have been put in place at EU level, including an increase in the ceiling for SMP intervention to 350,000 tonnes, which was sought by Ireland. In terms of input costs at farm level, I have called on the Commission to consider looking at temporary suspension of EU import tariffs on fertilisers to reduce input costs for Irish and EU farmers.
246. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will reverse the 50% cut to participants in respect of low input grassland pasture and the suspension of hedge planting under the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme 2. [21609/16]
View answerThe GLAS scheme contributes to the achievement of key European Commission priorities in the areas of biodiversity, water quality and climate change.
On the basis of the applications received under Tranche 1 of GLAS, we met or exceeded our targets for the entire RDP period for some GLAS actions. These include the Low Input Permanent Pasture and the Planting of New Hedgerows actions. As a result of this, some amendments were required for Tranche 2 of GLAS and the LIPP action was limited to 5 hectares and the Planting of New Hedgerows action was suspended. The decisions made regarding the LIPP and Planting of New Hedgerows actions remain but will be reviewed before the roll out of Tranche 3 of the scheme. Any review must maintain a balance in delivering on the scheme priorities as set out in the Rural Development Programme.
247. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when he will issue approvals to farmers who applied for tranche 3 under the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme which closed on 24 June 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21610/16]
View answerUnder the third tranche of the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS II) that closed on 24 June 2016, 2,000 applications were received. The processing of applications under this tranche has commenced. Approvals will issue when all checks have been complete having regard to the terms and conditions of the relevant Schemes.
248. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will allow grant aid to be paid where part approvals were issued and work has been completed but where there are other investments on the farmer's application in recognition of the serious cash flow issues on dairy farms under the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme 2; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21611/16]
View answerThe Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS II) was opened to applications when the supporting computer system was available. As urgent approval was requested in some cases over 1,100 part approvals issued in respect of dairy and low emission slurry spreading equipment. Full approvals for all measures are issuing on an ongoing basis with over 2,400 full approvals having been issued to date.
The position in relation to payment claims is that once an applicant has received full approval, if there are no other investments indicated on the full approval, a payment claim can be submitted as soon as the payment claim facility becomes available. If however there are other investments included in the application and indicated on the full approval then all investments must be purchased and installed before a payment claim can be made. It is expected that the payment claim system will be available in the coming weeks.
