Martin Heydon
Kildare South · Fine Gael · Ireland
“In the time allotted to us, I would say we will not be able to cover everything in CAP. To take the last point first, the budget is everything. While it is not part of my negotiations as chair of the AGRIFISH Council, it is a key focus of the Irish Presidency.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this important point. A key focus of Food Vision 2030, the shared stakeholder-led strategy for the agrifood sector, is to grow the value of Irish agrifood exports in international markets, which, as I outlined earlier, we have been very successful at in recent years.”
“All producers selling raw milk must register with my Department and are subject to risk-based official controls that include inspection, audit and sampling.”
“Whether it is farmers with particular issues that are leading to environmental issues or issues with structures that need to be replaced, we are very lucky to have capital support in agriculture. I really believe in our TAMS structure.”
“I was delighted to be able to introduce the tillage sustainability support scheme earlier this year. I have not been found wanting in standing up and supporting a tillage sector that has been under pressure in recent times. The same applies to horticulture.”
“Following the publication of the report, I wrote to the chairperson of the board on 22 June 2026, requesting that the board develop a timely and effective action plan to address the recommendations in the report, and I will be seeking regular updates on its progress. I want to see these recommendations implemented and progressed.”
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“We continue to monitor the latest technology and the opportunities and the amount of work under way in this area is significant. The National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory is part of my Department's strategic investment in soil carbon research. Funding was supplied to the establishment of the observatory by supplying the scientific infrastructure to measure GHG fluxes from soils under agriculture management. There are 28 flux towers across a range of soil types.”
“Developing accurate, evidence-based tools to track carbon sequestration is a key priority and my Department will continue to investigate other emerging technologies to support Ireland's climate and farming objectives. In essence, to be able to monetise and give a financial return for farmers on carbon farming down the line, and to ensure we are in line with what Europe is coming with, we have to do our baseline measurement. We have invested a lot of money, through Teagasc and the Department, in flux towers to measure the baseline activity of carbon in current soil types. We will have to be able to prove additionality down the line in order to monetise it with increased land management measures.”
“Initiatives such as the soil sampling and analysis programme, the National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory, and the Teagasc Signpost programme are currently helping to provide a more detailed and spatially resolved insights into carbon stocks and changes over time. This investment in research helps develop the science that shapes and improves the accuracy of our national greenhouse gas, GHG, inventory reporting. The Deputy will be aware that the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, is responsible for the reporting of emissions and removals associated with land use activities on an annual basis to the EU and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.”
“I thank Deputy McGreehan for raising an important point on the role carbon sequestration can play in agriculture and the opportunities there are in this space. I acknowledge the Deputy is wearing a St. Brigid's cross. Both Louth and Kildare are very proud of Brigid. We are looking forward to the public holiday this weekend in her honour. Innovative technologies to improve our measurement of carbon sequestration on Irish farmland are important. My Department is committed to improving the measurement, monitoring and reporting of carbon sequestration, which is central to both climate adaptation and mitigation efforts. We are actively considering all innovative technologies to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of national carbon assessments. This may include AI in future work, in line with Government guidelines on its use.”
“I know the Deputy's question is focused on AMOC but we have to have a hierarchy of risk. The plan is delivery focused and evidence based, with 102 actions designed to mainstream adaptation across policy, regulation, funding and advisory systems, to demonstrate measurable progress over time on all of these key areas. We cannot just focus on one specific area, as the Deputy's question does. It is the broad range of issues and changes that are coming in that space.”
“To finish the point I was making on the sectoral adaption plan, as well as priority actions in areas such as advisory and technical capacity, sustainable land and water management, we also have forestry resilience, species diversification, improved management and early warning for pests and fire. We are the fourth largest spending Department on research and much of that research is focused on the impact of our changing climate and building our resilience, whether it is in forestry sector, the crop sector or animal health and welfare; the marine and coastal adaptation; climate resilient aquaculture infrastructure and coastal protection; research, knowledge transfer and innovation; or sector-wide learning, innovation and local preparedness. These all feed into the broader approach.”
“The key objective is to embed adaptation, enhance resilience and integrate adaptation and mitigation measures. Priority actions cover a wide range of areas, to respond to the direct question, such as advisory and technical capacity, sustainable land and water management, which involves improving soil health, water retention, hedgerows, flood resilience and other measures, which I can address in my next supplementary contribution.”
“When I first got this job a year ago I got many regular briefings on disease threats, risks, plant diseases, animal diseases, weather risks and everything else. It is a bit overwhelming and then after a while one realises we have our mitigation plans and our approach, which I will go into in a minute. However, it is important we do not catastrophise. The NCCRA, published in 2025, identifies over 100 climate risks and prioritises 43 significant risks across sectors. While AMOC is noted as a system concern, a full collapse is considered a low-likelihood, high-impact event. More immediate risks to agriculture include increased weather variability, storm impacts and shifts in rainfall and temperature patterns. My sectoral adaption plan for 2025 strengthens resilience in agriculture, forestry and seafood.”
“Climate adaptation and long-term resilience planning are core priorities for my Department under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2021 and the updated national adaptation framework, NAF. My Department does not treat the AMOC risk in isolation. Rather, we continuously review climate risks as part of our co-ordinated cross-government planning frameworks, including through the national climate change risk assessment, NCCRA, and subsequent adaptation planning processes, which provide evidence-based assessments of hazards that could impact the economy, environment and society. These things cannot be looked at on their own. We have just been discussing a virus, bluetongue, that is found across Europe and climate change is probably having that impact. These things are all interlinked.”
“The movement of this warm water plays a crucial role in regulating our climate and helping to keep Ireland and much of Europe warmer and milder than other regions at the same latitude. This circulation helps Ireland to maintain generally mild temperatures, reducing the severity of prolonged cold weather, and plays an important role in shaping rainfall patterns and the occurrence of extreme weather events across Ireland and Europe. The Department played a key role in developing the climate risks identified in the national climate change risk assessment, working closely with the Environmental Protection Agency, Met Éireann and other Departments to ensure that risks to agriculture, forestry and seafood were fully reflected.”
“I thank Deputy Murphy. Is "moderately extreme" a thing or is it an oxymoron? When I was in Australia somebody pulled me up for saying something was "terrible bad". I was told something is either bad or terrible but that it cannot be both. Deputy Murphy caught me with "moderately extreme". All joking aside, I thank Deputy Murphy for raising this important question concerning the resilience of Irish farming in the event of a significant disruption to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. AMOC is a massive system of ocean currents, often called a conveyor belt, that transports warm, salty surface water from the tropics north toward Europe and North America.”
“The fact is that an animal is only infectious for 60 days, so an animal testing positive now will not cause the disease to spread through a midge landing on it because by the time the temperature gets warmer, the animal will no longer be infectious. In terms of the vaccine, we changed our approach. Our approach was always to identify it and move in quickly. If we vaccinate, we mask the disease because we cannot tell the difference between a positive test result and a vaccinated animal. Late last year, when the disease appeared in Northern Ireland, I approved vaccines for this year. That was a commercial decision. I ask people to engage with their veterinary practitioners to see whether vaccines are suitable for them.”
“It is not as big a concern that an animal had it here last year. A number of animals displaying antibodies now, showing they had it last year, gives us the concern that midges in that area were infected with it last year. These midges are lying dormant at present. Will some of them still have the disease when the temperature goes back up to spread it? That is the real concern. This disease is not passed from animal to animal. It is passed through a midge landing and biting an infected animal and then biting another animal. That is how it is spreading across Europe and beyond. It is fair to say that the response in January is very different from what our response would be if we were in July.”
“Most do present symptoms, and when we ask farmers to be vigilant what we are saying is that if an animal is sick or if farmers see unusual behaviour, they should contact their private vet. The private vets are completely plugged in with our regional veterinary officers and beyond. I am out of time again but I have a reply on the vaccines and I will provide it in the response to the next supplementary question.”
“I focused on one part of the question. I will respond now on the vaccines. The first animal that tested positive did so for antibodies, which proved the culled cow had it last year. As we know, midge activity can only spread disease when the temperature is over a constant 12°C, so we are really in the high-risk period from April or May until October. This animal had it last year and did not present symptoms. The other ten animals that have tested positive since are not displaying symptoms. Many of them tested positive for the antibodies, which means they had it last year. An animal is only infectious for approximately 60 days but it retains the antibodies. When we test we can see they had it last year but they did not present symptoms.”
“Some of their animals will get sick from it and there are trade implications now that we have lost our disease-free status. We have lost our beef access to China, which I announced yesterday. We have been working with third countries over the past two years to reform our veterinary health certificates we will continue to do so.”
“We worked well to do our best on surveillance last year, when it was rampant across Europe and the UK, to keep this disease off the island until now. It is unwelcome but it is not hugely surprising. We were monitoring wind activity and the risk of this blowing over in warm weather. Midges are the vector for spreading this disease from animal to animal. They are likely to be blown over in the wind from Wales and France in the warm weather, and that is most likely where it came from. We have responded in real time. Our approach was always to identify this early, lock it down and try to eradicate it. We have lost our disease-free status. It is important to reassure the public that there are no human health or food safety concerns with this disease. It is very much a production disease but it is a big cause of concern for farmers.”
“The positive case was found last week due to stringent routine investigations and testing of a culled cow that had been slaughtered. Antibodies were found, which showed the culled cow had been infected with bluetongue virus, BTV-3, last year on a farm in Wexford. We went in with our follow-up tracing and testing of all of the animals on that farm and the contiguous farm surrounding it. As of yesterday, unfortunately, we are up to 11 positive cases across that farm and three neighbouring farms. There are 11 positive cases on four farms. We were monitoring all last summer. I pay tribute to farmers for their surveillance and to our private veterinary practitioners for how they all work with our regional veterinary officer teams from the Department.”
“If our budget is going to be constrained, or even if we get it up to 100%, the purchasing power of those funds in 2028 and 2029 will be very different from what it was in 2021. That is a challenge for us. Ultimately, simplification means fewer schemes. It means the greatest amount of money possible is directed at farmers and that it is not tied up in bureaucratic schemes. The Deputy mentioned ACRES. I am very proud of the work my Department and I did to address those issues. It is operating like a perfectly normal scheme now, with more than 96% of farmers paid. On the record of the House, just to clarify, almost €750 million has been paid to farmers since 2023 through this environmental scheme. This is a serious success in supporting our farmers in the work they do.”
“I share the Deputy's concerns about simplification. Historically, we have seen complication. You see this with measures coming forward from Brussels, particularly from directorates general other than DG AGRI. We have the carbon border adjustment mechanism, CBAM, and we had the EU deforestation regulation. Those proposals came from a good place but their practical impact on farming and so on had not been fully considered. We then had to unpick some of those measures. We discussed CBAM for a considerable length of time on Monday. The Presidency of the EU in the second half of his year, when I will chair the AGRIFISH Council, which comprises me and the 26 other ministers for agriculture, gives us a huge opportunity to shape discussions. I am on record as having stated clearly before that I really do want to deliver simplification.”
“On the Deputy's specific point about entitlements, these are key decisions that we will have to make but, right now, there is no provision for entitlements. This is not a major issue for most member states because most of them have fully flattened and converged payments, as discussed at Cabinet last week. We have to make decisions on what to fight for. If we did get entitlements back as part of our element of flexibility, it would probably be conditional on further movement on convergence. These are the types of negotiations and discussions we need to continue to have. We will be able to make decisions in some areas earlier but others will take a bit more time.”
“The overall level of funding will obviously be dictated by the negotiations on the MFF by the Heads of State and Government. The Departments of Finance and foreign affairs are the lead Departments in these negotiations, in consultation with the Department of the Taoiseach. Ireland's position is very clear. We cannot support a weakening of the CAP budget. Our priority in the negotiations is to secure an adequate overall budget and a CAP that is simpler, fairer and sufficiently flexible to respond to economic, social and environmental needs. I will continue to engage actively with the Commission, the European Parliament and other member states to ensure Ireland's interests are fully reflected as discussions progress.”
“These are key decisions that have not yet been made. With regard to the overall amount of money, we need a CAP that is sufficiently funded.”
“It is not that the decisions we make will be academic, but they will absolutely be impacted by how big a slice of the cake the agriculture sector gets. If the CAP gets less, that will be a major issue. I have raised this consistently at every meeting of the AGRIFISH Council. Commissioner Hansen wants the same thing as us. He wants more funding in that area. I said last summer that the 80% that has been ring-fenced is a starting point we can build on. There is also a proposal regarding a national regional partnership plans structure. As I again raised in Brussels last Monday, some of the constraints within that structure are concerning. The percentage for social cohesion could impact our ability to use that mechanism with absolute flexibility. There is also the question of how the rural clause 10% will be used in the end.”
“I have also had support on the nitrates derogation and the steps I took to defend farmers' interests by opposing the Mercosur deal. Farming is in a better place because of the work we have done together over the last year. Nowhere will that be more important than in the context of the CAP. We will have to make loads of small decisions. Last week, we spent three and half hours in a committee meeting discussing a range of different measures and how this will turn out. At the heart of the question are the decisions that are to be made on the multi-annual financial framework, MFF, which is the overall budget for Europe. As the Deputy outlined, we do not have a sufficient amount of money ring-fenced for the CAP.”
“I am delighted to have the opportunity to discuss a matter of real substance and of real consequence for farmers for this year and from 2028 to 2034. The decisions we make this year and going into next year will be absolutely critical. I look forward to engaging with the Deputy and colleagues on the Oireachtas joint committee and to working in the very collaborative way we have done for the past year. Members on all sides of this House have delivered. While not everyone is of the same perspective regarding the approach I have taken, we have largely delivered for our agriculture sector on major matters like TB reforms and fixing issues with ACRES. I have had support from around the House in doing those things. I have also been held to account, which is only right.”
“The IFA's rash decision not to listen to the explanation and to rush straight out to protest - it had its mind made up before the meeting that it was going to do that - has also played a considerable part in damaging Bord Bia's reputation. We all have to work to rebuild that reputation. That does not mean getting a head on a plate. Government does not operate by mob rule in such scenarios. I will leave it at that, because this question was supposed to be about the agrifood regulator, which is a very important issue. That will take time. This is novel legislation. We are going further than the rest of Europe. This is about providing the transparency that some others are denying to farmers.”
“For once, I agree with the Deputy on something. Responsibility for confidence in Bord Bia is spread broadly. It is not on any one entity or farming organisation. Deputy Kenny also has responsibility. The soundbites he is coming out with here, which lack information and are designed to whip farmers up, are also undermining Bord Bia.”
“When the CSO figures come out in the next couple of weeks, we will see more record growth. This is money going straight into farmers' pockets. They benefit from the integrated nature of global supply chains.”
“-----that specific trade deal is worth hundreds of millions of euro to Irish farmers and to our industry. The chairman of Bord Bia has overseen exponential growth in the value of Irish food exports year on year-----”
“The heckling is a Sinn Féin trick. Let us park that one for a minute. The farm organisation currently protesting outside Bord Bia is refusing to allow its county executive chairs and the chairs of its commodities committees to receive the detailed briefing from that very chair about the nature of that deal that is being conflated and sold in a soundbite way to farmers. No wonder farmers are upset the way it is being sold to them, and the way the Deputy and others have sold this to them. There is a level of detail there. Once the board of Bord Bia received that briefing, 12 of its 14 members found it absolutely acceptable because-----”
“As a result, in December 2025, I signed new regulations to fulfil the programme for Government commitment to confer on the Agri-Food Regulator enhanced powers to compel price and market information from businesses to deliver additional transparency in the agrifood supply chain.”
“-----and like the IFA, not wanting clear information out there, is not doing farmers any service. It is not. I am going to leave it there. In relation to the actual question the Deputy put down, I am satisfied that the Agri-Food Regulator is fulfilling its overall statutory role to the highest standards, in particular on the unfair trading practices, the UTP legislation, and continues to work on behalf of stakeholders along the agrifood supply chain. In relation to its price and market analysis role, the regulator reported that while the majority of operators had submitted all information requested, a number of operators failed to comply with its requests for information on a voluntary basis.”
“----practical and fair space for the discussion on this issue. The Deputy standing up here calling for a head and for a witch hunt against someone who has not broken rules, and not wanting any debate-----”
“I am dealing with a lot of things this week, including the outbreak of bluetongue, working on issues around the Agri-Food Regulator, making sure the carbon border adjustment mechanism, CBAM, does not have a bad impact on farmers and reform of the CAP. I was in Brussels on Monday doing that. I was in the Seanad yesterday on nitrates. This other issue is one being conflated and hyped up, and farmers are being done a disservice because there is not-----”
“That was quite a pivot, Deputy. First, the recall and the food safety elements are a matter for the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, FSAI, which comes under the Department of Health. Any queries in that respect should be directed towards it. The Deputy has touched on the Bord Bia issue here. There needs to be a proper debate and explanation. Obviously, Mr. Murrin will be in front of the joint committee, and happy to engage in that. There is a complete lack of perspective in this debate given the integrated nature of global trades and the fact that this specific trade deal covered over 42 countries.”
“It is not just to make children more aware. As a father of four young kids, I can tell you the pester power of kids to give out to the older farmers who are doing stuff that is dangerous. Ultimately, at the heart of all this, we have a poor attitude to risk on our farms. We take risks, we put ourselves in harm's way and we think near misses are a normal way of life. No other industry finds that acceptable, and until we change that attitude to risk, we are going to continue to have an unacceptably high level. There is no level that is acceptable because one death is one too many and where are now right now has to change.”
“I thank the Deputy. I also want to mention the accelerated capital allowances scheme for farm safety equipment which was expanded to cover a broader range of farm safety investments in budget 2025. A suite of different financial supports are there. In relation to older farmers, three quarters of farm fatalities last year involved farmers over 60 years of age. The HSA's farm safety partnership has designed a leaflet entitled, Farming in Older Age , and this will be distributed along with the 2026 BISS, basic income support for sustainability packs to over 125,000 farmers. It will be going out in the post to them. Additionally, my Department is providing funding for the delivery of farm safety awareness programmes for primary and secondary school students to instil the message of farm safety into children from a young age.”
“Further health and safety guidelines are included in all building specifications and all TAMS applicants are required to complete a half-day of farm safety training. That training is included as part of ACRES, the knowledge transfer programme and the suckler carbon efficiency programme, SCEP, as well.”
“We talked about a range of issues. Generational renewal has a role to play here as well because, in general, the figures show a disproportionate number of old people are dying on our farms. When people asked me before why so many people in their 70s, and some in their 80s, are dying on our farms, it is because so many people are farming in their 70s and 80s. In any other profession, they would not still be working and in harm's way to that extent. In terms of the practical measures in place, when I was a Minister of State, I secured a dedicated budget. I got a separate funding stream under TAMs for farm safety measures, and that has been hugely popular. As well as the farm safety budget, my Department provides 60% grant aid for a range of farm safety-related investments under the farm safety capital investment scheme in TAMs.”
“My Department supports the efforts of the Health and Safety Authority and the Farm Safety Partnership to improve health and safety on Irish farms. Last year, I allocated €1.6 million in funding for 36 farm safety, health and well-being projects under an open call. I secured dedicated funding of €3 million for farm safety, health, and well-being initiatives in budget 2026 to build on existing, and to support new, initiatives in this area, which the Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae, has responsibility for. I will go into more detail in my supplementary response.”
“That was the tenet of the original point of Deputy O'Donoghue's question. As regards the nature of these things, circumstances have changed in the Limerick region since the Deputy submitted the question, as he has outlined. The 24 confirmed farm fatalities in 2025 were double the number for 2024. The Health and Safety Authority, which has primary responsibility for health and safety on farms, is investigating the death of an elderly farmer in a farm incident earlier this month. I extend my deepest sympathies to the family of this elderly farmer and the many other families dealing with the loss of a loved one in a farming incident. Farm safety, health and well-being are an absolute priority for the Government. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to continue to prioritise improvements in farm safety, health and well-being.”
“I thank Deputy O'Donoghue for raising what is a really important issue. I also offer my condolences and sympathies to those affected by recent bereavements, whether they finally get categorised as farm safety fatalities or otherwise. The HSA, as a statutory body, has work to do. There are an unacceptably high level of fatalities on farms and, as the Deputy quite rightly outlined, ours is the most dangerous workplace in all of Ireland - disproportionately so when you consider the size of the workforce in comparison with those in other industries. My colleague the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, has special responsibility for farm safety, who unfortunately cannot be here today, and I are very concerned by the sharp increase in the number of fatal incidents on farms in 2025, with older farmers proving particularly vulnerable.”
“Those farmers are operating to a very high environmental standard, and the Government is supporting them in doing that. I commend everyone and thank them for their contributions to this debate.”
“We as a Department are investing heavily in the areas around appropriate assessment. That will be an intensive body of work for us and our Department to take on. I thank Senator Kennelly for his points regarding Kerry. That is so important. When people raise the derogation with me, there has been a sense in some people's minds that this is about big farmers. What has struck me in travelling around the country, both as a Minister of State and in the last year, has been the palpable sense of panic in places like Timoleague in south-west Cork, Monaghan, Clare and Kerry. Those derogation farmers are not big farmers. A loss of derogation, if you have 80 or 85 cows and are dropping to 69 or 70 cows, is the difference between viability and non-viability. We are not talking about profit margin here. We are talking about viability.”
“I am proud that, because of our strong economy and the investment in structural funds in the eighties and beyond, we have put ourselves in a strong position to be a net contributor, but we want to get as much back as we can, and the Common Agricultural Policy is the best vehicle for doing that. I completely agree with Senator Tully's points. Farmers need clarity. They need adequate funding. We have listed a series of measures, such as €60 million for the farming for water EIP and a range of different supports. The Government has supported farmers in the past through the TAMS programme. I have talked about the €153 million for increased slurry storage and low-emission slurry spreading equipment. We are working with industry now. We are all leveraging that money together to support our farmers to make those efforts.”
“It is a whole-of-government approach. It is really important to the entire country. The reason is that, as a net contributor, per capita , Ireland is one of the biggest contributors to the EU budget. We pay in more than we get back, but 75% of receipts from the EU to the Irish Exchequer are through the Common Agricultural Policy. This is not just about farmers in our rural communities. If we do not get a fully funded CAP and the maximum amount of money in there, our whole Exchequer will lose because this is our best vehicle for getting as much as possible back from what we put into Europe.”
“They are the farmers who are really up for doing things and taking on those extra measures, as well as the baseline measures that are in the nitrates action programme for all. That is an important part of that. Senator Daly mentioned that it was a fluid situation. I was not sure whether he intended the pun, but he is absolutely right, in particular regarding cow banding. The efforts made in the past, and the other steps that frustrated farmers around moving the goalposts, have been really important. The mid-term review made a change there, but when the points were put to me in the negotiations around reducing 220 to 210, that was not acceptable to me. The cap on new entrants, for the very point Senator Lynch made on generational renewal, was not acceptable to me. Senator Daly also talked about the CAP money being important. I agree.”
“Previously there were not only lag times but also a strong sense of frustration at the goalposts being moved all the time. We have stability now. While we have new conditionality around the habitats directive, farmers' continued work in the area of water quality is just as important. There has been a stepping up of ambition, as there was in every one of the previous NAPs. NAP 6 is another step-up in ambition and conditionality. That is the strength of the habitats directive. When people from an environmental perspective knock this, what they fail to recognise is that in return for being able to operate at a higher stocking density, our farmers are voluntarily putting their hand up for extra conditionality.”
“It is a catch-22. We want to make sure that we are fair to everybody. Senator Lynch raised points about TAMS earlier. A total of €153 million has been paid out for low-emission slurry spreading and nutrient storage since 2015. A 60% grant is available for nutrient storage. As was mentioned earlier, I commend the work of our colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy John Cummins, in the Department of housing with responsibility for planning, who has brought forward that commitment around the planning exemption on slurry storage, which, again, is important. The resourcing of habitats assessments was discussed. We have experience carrying this out in forestry, as well as in regard to aquaculture licences. We will recruit the relevant personnel and get the assessments under way as soon as possible. Senator Daly mentioned lag times. I agree.”