Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 December 2021
220. Deputy Mary Butler asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will address matters raised in correspondence by a person (details supplied) in relation to small organic farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62090/21]
View answerI am cognisant of the fact that there is substantial diversity in the types and scale of enterprises in the Irish beef sector, and it is in consideration of this that a range of supports are being put in place in the context of the incoming CAP in addition to the Suckler Carbon Efficiency Scheme which will also pay participants €150 on the first 10 cows in the herd. These include Eco Schemes, Dairy Calf Welfare scheme for farmers rearing beef calves from the dairy herd and substantial increases to supports for organic systems as well as all of the other supports available to farmers generally.
The purpose of the proposed Suckler Carbon Efficiency Scheme is to support improvements in economic and environmental efficiency through the use of genetics, genomics and performance metrics. Given that the use of genomics is a fundamental element underpinning the scheme, it is not possible for any participants in this scheme to be exempt from that measure, nor is it possible to provide target deadlines based on enterprise type or scale.
