Written Answers Nos. 533-548
533. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to provide support to the tillage sector, including adjustments to tax-free land leases to incentivise the leasing of the land to tillage and horticulture farmers whose emissions per acre are far lower than any other food producing sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22738/23]
View answerAs the Deputy is probably aware, primary responsibility for taxation policy lies with the Minister for Finance.
However, I work closely with him to ensure that the Government’s agri-food policy objectives are supported wherever possible.
Section 664 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides for the exemption from tax of certain income earned from the long-term leasing of farmland. The relief was designed to encourage longer-term leases of farmland, with the policy objective of assisting with land mobility, while moving away from the inefficient conacre system.
The tax benefit is to the lessor of land and provides a route to retirement for older farmers and access to land for younger farmers, assisting generational renewal. It also provides security of tenure and the certainty required to encourage lessees.
A vibrant and sustainable tillage sector is central to increasing Ireland’s food and feed security while also contributing to climate change objectives.
Maintaining, firstly, and subsequently growing the area under tillage is an important strategic objective of mine and my Department. This is highlighted in the Food Vision 2030 Strategy and more recently in the Climate Action Plan where a target has been set to grow the area under tillage crops to 400,000ha by 2030.
To help achieve this objective, I recently established the Food Vision 2030 Tillage Group and I hosted its first meeting on Thursday 11th May 2023. This group will bring together all relevant stakeholders to set out a roadmap for the sustainable growth and development of the sector to 2030. I have tasked the group with providing a detailed plan and recommendations by the end of July with a final plan to be submitted during the final quarter of 2023.
534. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the steps he is taking to support farmers in hiring agricultural workers and to encourage more people take up work as agricultural workers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22739/23]
View answerFood Vision 2030, our shared stakeholder-led strategy for the future of the agri-food sector includes a goal to “Attract and Nurture Diverse and Inclusive Talent”.
This recommends five actions for the sector: employers in the agri-food industry will develop an education, skills and talent attraction and retention strategy; they will ensure decent work and address labour shortages; education and training programmes, including new apprenticeships, will be kept under review to ensure they respond to needs such as in the areas of environmental sustainability; they will promote and improve gender balance at all levels, but particularly at senior management and board level; and they will promote and develop initiatives to improve diversity and inclusion.
The agri-food sector currently employs almost 165,000 people, representing 6.5% of total employment, of which just over 100,000 are working in primary agriculture. However, many farm holders and their family members work part -time on the land in addition to their main employment and the CSO census in 2020 indicated that there were 278,580 family and regular non-family workers on Irish farms. Ireland is currently very close to full employment with the unemployment rate for April 2023 at just 3.9% and this is putting some pressure on attracting and retaining employees.
In sectors such as horticulture and dairy where there has been difficulty recruiting enough labour from within Ireland and the European Economic Area, my Department has worked closely with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE) to ensure that there are employment permits made available to recruit additional labour, while recognising that this should be the last resort for filling vacancies.
My Department is working closely with DETE on the introduction of a seasonal employment permit facility in new employment permit legislation currently before the Oireachtas.
I will continue to work closely with the sector to help ensure that there is a vibrant workforce available to drive the agriculture sector, despite the challenges posed by having close to full employment.
535. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if Section 12 (4) of the Horse and Greyhound Act 2001 has been amended since the Act was passed by the Houses of the Oireachtas. [22749/23]
View answerSection 12 (4) of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act 2001 states that “The Minister shall pay into the Fund out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, in the year 2002 and in each subsequent year, an amount, determined by the Revenue Commissioners, equivalent to the revenue from excise duty on off-course betting paid into the Exchequer in the preceding year or the year 2000 increased by reference to the Consumer Price Index, whichever is the greater.”
The initial funding model for the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund provided that the Fund would each year be financed by an amount equal to the revenue from excise duty on off-course betting in the preceding year or the year 2000 increased by reference to the Consumer Price Index, whichever was greater (section 12(4) of the Act). This formula applied for the years 2001-2008.
While Section 12 (4) of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act has not been amended, since 2009 the decision on the proposed annual amount to be allocated to the Fund is made in the context of the budgetary process (estimates allocation). Once the budget is announced, the proposed allocation must be formalised by Regulation. There are currently no plans to change this process.
536. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the members of the public that were involved in the survey in relation to the first major public consultation into the impact of deer, that is, gun clubs, farming groups and so on (details supplied); the research that has been carried out into non-lethal deer population control; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22761/23]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that responsibility for wildlife, including deer, lies with the National Parks and Wildlife Service within the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
As Minister for Agriculture Food and the Marine, I am, however, aware of the importance of the sustainable management of our national deer population for agriculture, as well as our nature ecosystems. In order to address this the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and I convened the Deer Management Strategy group last Autumn, under the Chairmanship of Teddy Cashman. On foot of a recommendation of the strategy group a public consultation on the management of deer was launched late last year. This was the first major public consultation into the impact of deer and it received over 1,500 submissions from all over the country and all walks of life.
Some of the findings of the public consultation are that the main concerns regarding the impacts of deer to emerge from the consultation were biodiversity loss / damage (82%), damage to agricultural crops / grazing (81%), road safety issue (80%), preventing the establishment of new forests (71%) and a role in the epidemiology of TB in cattle (67%). Submissions also outlined that in order to tackle the problems raised by deer, 86% of the survey’s respondents said culling of deer is needed. Some 78% said supports for landowners to manage deer is required while 69% said a domestic venison industry should be expanded.
The Deer Management Strategy Group will now progress the process by convening a series of stakeholder working groups to develop recommendations to managing the deer population effectively.
537. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the announced low-emission slurry scheme under TAMS 3 will be available to contractors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22775/23]
View answerThe EU regulations (Article 17 of EU Regulation 1305/2013) that provide for the TAMS scheme under the RDP 2014 – 2020, specify that TAMS beneficiaries must be farmers or groups of farmers.
The regulatory transitional provisions for support from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) in the years 2021 and 2022 do not alter this definition. These are also the legal basis for TAMS 3.
Therefore, the Department is precluded from funding the purchase of equipment by contractors under TAMS 3 unless they are also farmers. There are, however, a range of Government supports available for contractors in the saw way as other small businesses.
538. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will allow flexibility around ACRES deadline, given recent difficult weather conditions and heavy rainfall have caused delays to sowing and fencing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22776/23]
View answerACRES is the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme and is an agri-environment climate measure in Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan (CSP) 2023-2027. The Government has committed €1.5 billion to ACRES over its duration.
It has been confirmed that there will not be an extension granted in relation to any of the actions where fencing is required under ACRES. However, an extension has been granted for the sowing of Winter Bird Food crop due to adverse weather conditions. Circular 6/2023 advises that the deadline for planting has been extended to May 31st for 2023 only.
This circular and all other documentation is available on the ACRES section of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine website.
539. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will confirm that there is no backlog of applications waiting to be processed for afforestation, ash dieback or forest road schemes, given that there have been no accepted applications for these schemes since 1 January 2023; if there is a backlog, the measures his Department is taking to process these applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22777/23]
View answerThe Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has delivered considerable reductions in the backlog of all forestry licences, as well as reductions in the time taken to process newer files.
In August 2021, we had over 6,100 licences on hand for processing and this number has now been reduced to just over 2,500. It continues to reduce each week. In 2022 we issued 4,713 licences, which is 1,154 more licences issued than applications received. This progress in reducing the backlog will continue through 2023.
These improvements were achieved through process efficiencies and enhancement as well through a significant investment in resources.
We are committed to continual improvement and to a fully functioning licensing system which matches the ambition of the new Forestry Programme.
While we await State Aid approval, the Department is continuing to process applications that are in the system in the normal manner, progressing to the point just before certification and approval. The aim is to have processed as many grant aid applications as possible so that approvals will be ready to issue as soon as allowable.
540. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department remains committed to issuing 100 tree felling licences per week; if he will provide an update on how many licences have been issued per week since 1 April 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22779/23]
View answerThe Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine published the Forestry Licensing Plan 2022 in February last year. The plan informed stakeholders of our targets for the delivery of afforestation, felling and forest road licences, and of our commitment to reducing the backlog and committed to issuing 100 licences, of all types, per week. The Plan committed to issuing 65 felling licences per week.
There is obvious merit in signalling to forest owners, landowners, and the forest sector our intentions as regards licensing which is why I intend to publish a new Forestry Licensing Plan once the new Forestry Programme has been approved at national and EU levels.
As the previous Forestry Programme has finished, my Department is not currently in a position to issue licences for grant aided afforestation and roads. Felling licences are unaffected. In order to allow those with unused licences under the previous Programme up to 31st December 2022 to plant we introduced a De Minimus Scheme. As well as the new licences issued per week set out below, my Department has also processed applications from those who have opted into the De minimus scheme
Our efforts at faster processing of forestry licences has been hugely successful over the last 18 months. In August we had 6,100 licences on hand for processing and that figure is now down to just over 2,500. This number continues to reduce each week. We issued over 1,100 more licences in 2022 than we received in applications.
Licences issued in the month of April
|
Week ending |
Felling |
Afforestation |
Roads |
|
07/04/2023 |
59 |
0 |
0 |
|
14/04/2023 |
64 |
0 |
7 |
|
21/04/2023 |
48 |
0 |
3 |
|
28/04/2023 |
65 |
0 |
4 |
|
05/05/2023 |
44 |
1 |
0 |
|
12/05/2023 |
70 |
0 |
5 |
541. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide figures on how many requests to extend felling licences his Department has received since January 2023; how many of these have been approved and rejected, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22780/23]
View answerUnder Section 17 of the Forestry Act 2014, the Minister may specify the amount of time that a felling licence is valid for. Section 17(3)(a) states that the felling licence shall be valid for such period as the Minister decides, but shall not exceed 10 years. However, this is qualified by Section 17(3)(b) which permits the Minister to extend the duration of the licence for one or more further periods, not exceeding a total of five more years.
Since January, 2023 my Department has received three requests to extend felling licence timelines.
One of these felling licences has been extended at the applicant’s request as the applicant was unable to fell the trees within the original two year time frame.
The other two licences were refused an extension as they had expired.
542. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 516 of 9 May 2023, if he will direct officials in his Department to develop a case study for the provision of financial support through the Brexit Adjustment Reserve Fund, given that the sheep sector is one of the most affected sectors as a result of the UK's withdrawal from the EU; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22839/23]
View answerAlthough there has been a solid and sustained increase in average sheep prices since the end of February, I recognise that sheep farmers are experiencing more difficult market conditions in 2023 compared to recent years. The Government, as the Deputy can appreciate, has no role in determining commodity prices in the sheep sector. However, it is heartening to see that markets are now returning consistently better prices for farmers than at the start of the year.
According to my Department’s weekly Meat Market Report, the national average price for Irish sheep during the first week of May (week 18) was €7.36/kg which was similar to the prevailing level for the corresponding period in 2022.
It should be noted that my Department already provides significant support to the sector under the new CAP Strategic Plan (CSP), both through the Sheep Improvement Scheme and through the broad range of CSP schemes for which sheep farmers are eligible. These include the ACRES and Organic Farming schemes, which are particularly suited to sheep enterprises or mixed beef and sheep enterprises, and which are likely to provide higher direct payments to sheep farmers this year.
Additionally, I have supported livestock farmers in dealing with increased costs over the last year by introducing a fodder incentive scheme, a national liming programme and a package to encourage the sowing of multi-species swards and red clover.
While market returns have reduced for sheep farmers, mainly because of increased input costs, Teagasc forecasts suggest that family farm income for specialised sheep farms in 2023 will be €19,500, a reduction of 2% on 2022. This reflects the important role which direct payments play in supporting sheep farm incomes.
The Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) established by the EU Commission provides financial support to the most affected Member States to counter the adverse economic, social, territorial and, where appropriate, environmental consequences of the withdrawal of the UK from the EU. Expenditure under the BAR must demonstrate a direct link to the negative impact of the withdrawal of the UK from the EU, and failure to do so will see the European Commission deem expenditure ineligible.
The sheep meat price data published by my Department does not provide conclusive evidence that the sector has suffered any persistent adverse impact as a result of the UK's decision to withdraw from the EU - in fact, the overall price trend has been predominantly positive for primary producers during that period.
In light of the current challenges facing the sector, my officials are closely monitoring the sheep market situation and the Government will continue to make every effort to support the sector.
543. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of the fishing boat scheme (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22958/23]
View answerThe Brexit Voluntary Permanent Decommissioning Scheme was announced in July 2022 and was subsequently published by BIM along with all terms and conditions.
A necessary condition of the scheme prior to payments being made, and for the vessel deregistration process is for applicants to supply evidence that the mortgage providers have approved in writing the proposed decommissioning of the vessel, where a mortgage or charge on a vessel exists.
Typically, a lender would require that any mortgage be cleared prior to vessel deregistration. As many applicants would not typically have available funds to clear any outstanding charges prior to scheme payments, lenders required reassurance to provide approval for relevant vessels to be decommissioned.
BIM, as the implementing body of the scheme, have engaged with the relevant financial institutions and have come to an agreement on this matter. All concerned participants in the scheme have now been contacted in regard to this issue and can continue to engage in the decommissioning process.
544. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the percentage of social media posts made on each of his Departmental social media accounts or the social media accounts of public bodies and agencies that operate under his remit that were exclusively in Irish between 1 May 2022 and 30 April 2023, inclusive; the percentage of same that feature bilingual translations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23023/23]
View answerThe information requested by the Deputy is being collated by the Department and a reply will be forwarded within 10 working days.
As regards the 12 State Bodies under the aegis of my Department, the information requested is an operational matter for the State Bodies themselves. I have referred the Deputy’s question to the Agencies and have requested that a response should issue within 10 days.
545. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine how his Department and public bodies and agencies that operate under his remit meet their obligations for reasonable accommodation under the Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015. [23041/23]
View answerThe Employment Equality Acts 1998 to 2015 require employers to take appropriate measures, where needed in a particular case, to enable a person with a disability:
• to have access to employment,
• to participate or advance in employment,
• to undergo training,
Unless the measures would impose a disproportionate burden on the employer.
My Department has a Disability Liaison Officer who fosters awareness of equality and disability issues among staff and provides support, advice and guidance to staff and managers in ensuring staff with a disability have equal opportunities throughout their career in my Department. The Disability Liaison Officer also facilitates reasonable accommodations as appropriate for employees with disabilities.
As provided for in the Code of Practice for the Employment of People with a Disability in the Irish Civil Service (the Code), requests for reasonable accommodations are applied for on a workplace accommodations form (Appendix D of the Code). Part two of these forms should be completed by a medical specialist.
In consultation with local management, where appropriate, all requests are considered in the context of supporting the person concerned, but also in the context of what is reasonable and, in accordance with the legislation, will not place a disproportionate burden on my Department.
Examples of reasonable accommodations regularly provided by my Department include specialised chairs and other office furniture, assistive technology required by visually impaired, deaf or dyslexic employees and local arrangements agreed with line managers of staff with disabilities such as reduced working hours.
As regards the State Bodies under the aegis of my Department, the information requested is an operational matter for the State Bodies themselves. I have referred the Deputy’s question to the Agencies and have requested that a response should issue to the Deputy directly.
546. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the WTE staff, by grade, working within the import controls operations division within his Department as of 10 May 2023; the number of vacant WTE staff by grade within his Department; and when these vacancies will be filled, in tabular form. [23087/23]
View answerMy Department has numerous staff members engaged in work relating to import controls functions. The following table shows the number of officers currently deployed as such;
|
Staff with import control duties |
FTE |
|
|
|
|
Agricultural Inspector |
1.3 |
|
Assistant Agricultural Inspector |
15 |
|
Assistant Principal Officer |
2 |
|
Clerical Officer |
85.95 |
|
Executive Officer |
25 |
|
Higher Executive Officer |
8 |
|
Senior Superintending Veterinary Inspector |
1 |
|
Superintending Veterinary Inspector |
3 |
|
Veterinary Inspector |
38 |
*FTE = Full Time Equivalent
My Department is committed to making sure that a skilled, motivated workforce is in place to meet business needs. The Department uses Workforce Planning to identify and address these requirements. Given its size, the Department’s vacancies constantly change as staff are recruited and other staff leave and retire. The current vacancies are listed below as requested. Work to fill all vacancies is a permanent feature of my Department's work and assignments are ongoing across all grade streams. These vacancies are either in the process of being filled or are being advertised by either the Public Appointments Service (PAS) or directly by my Department's Human Resources Division.
The highest number of vacancies is in the Technical Agricultural Officer grade stream and a competition closed in April 2023. When the selection process is completed it is expected the successful candidate pool from this current competition will eliminate the current vacancies.
I am acutely aware of the need for farmers and members of the public to avail of services promptly and efficiently, and all critical staffing vacancies are filled as soon as possible.
|
Grade |
Vacancies FTE |
|
|
|
|
Clerical Officer |
67 |
|
Executive Officer |
67 |
|
Administrative Officer |
2 |
|
Higher Executive Officer |
19 |
|
Assistant Principal |
10 |
|
Principal Officer |
1 |
|
Assistant Agricultural Inspector |
28 |
|
Agricultural Inspector |
5 |
|
Forestry Inspector Grade 3 |
9 |
|
Forestry Inspector Grade 2 |
3 |
|
Laboratory Attendant |
3 |
|
Laboratory Analyst |
5 |
|
Senior Laboratory Analyst |
2 |
|
Craftworker |
1 |
|
Engineer Grade 3 |
5 |
|
General Operative |
3 |
|
Service Officer |
1 |
|
State Solicitor |
1 |
|
Technical Agricultural Officer |
93 |
|
Supervisory Agricultural Officer |
9 |
|
District Superintendent |
3 |
|
Area Superintendent |
1 |
|
Veterinary Inspector |
15 |
|
Superintending Veterinary Inspector |
1 |
547. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if Bord Bia’s remit includes the promotion of Irish tillage farmers, and their inclusion in Origin Green; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23114/23]
View answerI can confirm that the promotion of cereals falls under the functions of Bord Bia and as such is an operational matter for Bord Bia.
A vibrant and sustainable tillage sector is central to increasing Ireland’s food and feed security while also contributing to climate change objectives. Maintaining the current tillage area with an ambition for further growth is therefore an important strategic objective of my Department. This is highlighted in the Food Vision 2030 Strategy and more recently in the Climate Action Plan where a target has been set to grow the area under tillage crops to 400,000ha by 2030.
To achieve this objective I recently established the Food Vision 2030 Tillage Group and I hosted its first meeting on Thursday 11th May 2023. This group, which includes Bord Bia, will bring together all relevant stakeholders to set out a roadmap for the sustainable growth and development of the sector to 2030. A related Food Vision action is that stakeholders will consider aligning the Irish Grain Assurance Scheme (IGAS) with Origin Green and this is a matter that can be explored by Bord Bia together with the stakeholders. I have tasked the group with providing a detailed plan and recommendations by the end of July with a final plan to be submitted during the final quarter of 2023.
548. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will outline his engagement with the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media concerning a report (details supplied) querying the use of public funds to support the greyhound racing industry and questioning whether a portion of betting tax income could be redirected to soccer and other sports; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23115/23]
View answerAccording to the 2021 Power Report, commissioned by RCÉ, the greyhound industry provides and supports considerable employment both directly and indirectly across the Irish economy.
It is estimated that in 2019, the industry supported 4,150 full-time and part-time jobs in the economy. In addition, there are 6,211 active greyhound owners. The total number of people deriving economic benefit from the greyhound sector is estimated at 10,361.
The initial funding model for the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund provided that the Fund would each year be financed by an amount equal to the revenue from excise duty on off-course betting in the preceding year or the year 2000 increased by reference to the Consumer Price Index, whichever was greater (section 12(4) of the Act). This formula applied for the years 2001-2008.
Since 2009, the decision on the proposed annual amount to be allocated to the Fund is made in the context of the budgetary process (estimates allocation). Once the budget is announced, the proposed allocation must be formalised by Regulation. There are currently no plans to change this process.
