Alan Dillon
Question:93. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine what plans are in place to review the sheep improvement scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18581/23]
View answerThursday, 20 April 2023
Questions (93)
Oral answers (6 contributions)
I spoke recently in the House on the sheep sector. It is our duty to support sheep farmers. Many sheep producers are grappling with increased production costs while the price of their products has fallen. We cannot stand idly by as this unfolds. We need to ensure sheep farmers can continue to contribute to our local economy and pass their knowledge and passion for their land on to future generations. What plans are in place to review the current sheep improvement scheme?
The sheep sector in Mayo, no more than in my home county of Donegal, is an important part of the farming make-up. It has been under pressure in recent months, certainly for store finishers who had a challenging winter with prices down on previous years and increased costs.
With the new CAP this year, the schemes that are in place and the changes to the entitlement structure will benefit the sheep sector more than any other sector. Convergence will benefit the Deputy’s county, with the front-loading aspect for sheep farmers there. The most significant decision I made, knowing the challenging situation sheep farmers are having with their income, was to ensure that every sheep farmer applied for ACRES. If we had not been able to increase and provide the extra funding to ensure everyone could get in to the scheme, almost half of the farmers who applied in some counties would not have got into ACRES. That is a payment this year of potentially up to €7,000, with the average payment expected to be between €5,000 and €6,000. That decision was made specifically to ensure we were backing farmers in the environmental space. We are also very aware of current incomes.
The new sheep welfare scheme, the sheep improvement scheme, offers €12 per ewe. Over time, and looking from budget to budget, I will see if we can improve the payment but we have to work within the budgetary envelope we have. When we take the various schemes in place, the Government is strongly supporting the sheep sector. Most important, in recent weeks it has been most welcome to see the increased market returns, with prices breaking €8 per kilogram for spring lamb and €7 per kilogram for hoggets. Of particular significance was the increase last week of up to 60 cent per kilogram. Hopefully that will continue over coming weeks.
I thank the Minister for his response and for his interventions to date. While they have made a difference, from my engagement with many farming representative organisations in recent weeks, I know they are really concerned about the primary sheep producers. Time is running out for many. The position is precarious and it is unsustainable for new and existing farmers. As public representatives, we have a duty to implement policies and additional support measures to help alleviate this burden. Will the Minister address the inadequacies of the current sheep improvement scheme which offers only €12 per ewe to protect the economic viability of the sector? We heard earlier about the Brexit adjustment fund. That was not a proper proposal but I ask that it be reviewed in future budgetary discussions.
I recognise that, of the various CAP schemes introduced this year, the sheep improvement scheme received a smaller increase than other schemes. We increased the payment from €10 per ewe to €12 per ewe. It is plugged in and guaranteed for the next five years. The outgoing sheep improvement scheme was an annual scheme running from budget to budget and paid from out of the national Exchequer only. Going back to the previous CAP in 2014, there was no sheep scheme plugged into that. We have now plugged this in and the scheme will be in place for the next five years. If, in the budgetary negotiation every year, I can find mechanisms to improve on that, it is my objective and priority to do so. This is a starting point but the payment under the sheep improvement scheme has increased by €2 or 20%. On the other structures, particularly in Pillar 1 and ACRES, the sheep sector is the sector which, in the round, will have benefited most from the changes in the new CAP beginning this year. I recognise the objective of trying to do more. We always want to do more and we will seek improvements as time goes on.
I accept it is the first year of the new CAP programme but the feedback from many of the sheep farmers I have engaged with, and many of the hill farmers, is that the payment is insufficient to provide the support sheep farmers need to maintain their livelihoods and keep the sector alive.
Certainly, we need to do more in terms of financial aid and to ensure we can enhance the direct targeted supports. This increased funding will go a long way to ensuring new entrants to sheep farming are provided with an opportunity not only to increase and build their flocks, but also to support existing farmers in the sector. I look forward to working with the Minister to ensure this is possible in the future.
I thank Deputy Dillon; I will work with him. It is a really important sector. We are doing a lot for it this year. I know the ask is that we do more. As a representative and a Deputy for a county where the sheep sector is very important, Deputy Dillon will be keeping the pressure on me to do all that is possible to deliver more. I look forward to working with him in order to back the sector.
Is féidir teacht ar Cheisteanna Scríofa ar
www.oireachtas.ie
.
Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website.