Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 March 2022
757. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount allocated to multi-species sward scheme; the number of participants; the average payment by county and farm system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12564/22]
View answerAs part of Budget 2022, I committed €1m to a pilot measure to support Multi-Species Swards. It is a pilot measure proposed by my Department to promote environmentally sustainable methods of farming and a reduced dependency on expensive Nitrogenous fertiliser.
It will have a positive impact on climate emissions, biodiversity and water quality. This measure is anticipated to contribute to the goals set around the EU Green Deal including the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategy, it is an innovative pilot measure which has a proposed target to establish approximately 8,000 ha of multi-species grassland (depending on uptake).
As the measure is currently in development phase and has not yet launched, figures around numbers of participants are not yet available.
