Sorca Clarke
Question:276. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his proposals to support the production of agricultural hemp. [11763/23]
View answerWednesday, 8 March 2023
Questions (276)
Written answers
The current Programme for Government includes a commitment to fully explore fibre crops such as hemp and consider whether these crops have a viable market. To fulfil that commitment, my Department carried out a consultative process in 2021 to examine the commercial viability of growing hemp for fibre use only. The report on this consultation was published in December 2022.
As part of the consultation, stakeholders were invited to consider a number of questions including existing markets, the strengths and weaknesses of fibre crops and the scaleability of the Irish fibre crop/hemp industry, taking into account the market size and value, industry processing capacity and economic returns along the supply chain.
The main finding of the report was that the growing of fibre crops such as hemp for the purposes of fibre production only is not currently viable in Ireland. However, hemp can be successfully grown here and offers opportunities for diversification and crop rotation while delivering environmental benefits. Potential markets also exist for hemp fibre with its use in the construction industry offering the most significant opportunity.
While the overall outcome of the consultation is that the growing of fibre crops such as hemp is not currently viable, it is a matter for the industry to address and bring forward a proposal containing viable options for consideration.
Hemp is included as an eligible crop under the Basic Income Support for Sustainability Scheme (BISS). However, the growing of hemp requires a specific license from the Health Products Regulatory Authority which operates under the auspices of the Department of Health.