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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“While we continue to work on those internal issues, I take this opportunity to remind farmers who have further information to submit to do so as soon as possible. My Department will continue to issue regular online updates in the coming period on the progress being made. I am not happy that some farmers are not being paid on time and when they expected to be paid. It was a top priority for me to address this issue when I came into this office at the end of January. I will not rest until the situation has been resolved for every last farmer. We have made very significant progress in recent months to get the number down to the current very low level. It is a top priority for me and my officials to continue to work until the situation has been resolved.”
“In the case of the 2023 scheme year, almost 99% of participants have been paid in full. As regards 2024, 97% of participants have received their advance payments and almost 94% of participants have now received a balancing payment. My Department is committed to resolving as soon as possible the issues that have been delaying the remaining payments. Additional resources have been deployed and we are systematically working through the remaining issues associated with the outstanding cases. These issues can range from internal departmental matters, such as the processing of changes of ownership and the finalisation of payment calculation processes, to external, applicant- or adviser-related matters such as the submission of documentation.”
“I hope the Deputy always expects a good answer, not just to one question. I thank him very much for raising the agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES. The scheme is very important. I accept that there are challenges in regard to it for some farmers. ACRES is the flagship environmental scheme provided under the 2023-27 CAP strategic plan, with €1.5 billion in Exchequer and EU funding allocated over the course of the scheme. There are currently just under 54,000 participants in ACRES. Payments in respect of ACRES continue to issue on a weekly basis, as cases pass all required validation checks. A total of €512.2 million has now issued since ACRES payments commenced at the end of 2023. That is more than half a billion euro in a couple of years paid directly to farmers to support them in the measures they are taking.”
“Housing constructed in line with this specification will enhance pig welfare and enable farmers to move towards rearing pigs with long tails. We are working on that in a very clear direction. We take a very serious approach to any infringement of animal welfare laws, which is our role. We continue to engage at a European level on the future direction of policy regarding the points Deputy Murphy raised.”
“I repeat that the Government strongly condemns any cruelty or mistreatment of any animal. We carry out risk-based assessments. We also carry out investigations into any allegations of illegal or criminal behaviour and we prepare files for the Director of Public Prosecutions, as appropriate. That is a strong priority of my Department. We take that responsibility very seriously. I want to be very clear on that. My Department recently published an updated specification for new pig housing under TAMS 3, with requirements including more space, more comfortable flooring, more feeding space and farrowing pens of 6.5 sq. m. Sows can only be kept in a crate for a few days around farrowing, and the rest of the time they must be loose in the pen.”
“For that reason, we must look at animal welfare measures in the round. It is the same with the point about piglets' teeth and the impact they can have on other piglets or the sow.”
“The Government strongly condemns any cruelty or mistreatment of any animal. It is my Department's policy to investigate all allegations of illegal or criminal behaviour and to prepare files for appropriate action. We have very robust animal welfare legislation in this country. The welfare of all animals, in particular those in intensively reared systems such as pigs, is a priority for my Department. In the case of pigs, there is sector-specific legislation in place based on existing EU rules. Some of the measures the Deputy talks about are unpleasant in nature but they also involve animal welfare measures. A large sow rolling over on very young piglets could cause their death, which would not be positive. The purpose of the crate around farrowing time is to prevent that happening.”
“The Commission has also indicated that a phasing out of the use of cages for animals, including sow stalls and crates, is being considered. It is important that any new welfare legislation is based on science, with reasonable transition periods and supports given to farmers. I will continue to closely monitor developments at EU level.”
“The tool enables farmers to work with their vet to identify their risk factors for tail-biting and to develop an action plan to deal with those risks. More than 1,300 assessments have been carried out across 400 pig farms to date. My Department also carries out risk-based inspections on a number of pig farms each year to check compliance with the legislation. Tooth reduction in piglets is currently necessary to prevent injuries to the teats of sows and to other piglets when they suckle. However, the castration of pigs is not routinely carried out in Ireland. Under the farm to fork strategy, the European Commission committed to revising the EU animal welfare legislation, including the pig welfare directive.”
“I thank Deputy Murphy for raising this important topic. There is EU and national legislation in place to protect the welfare of pigs. It sets out detailed requirements for pigs, including, for example, requirements for minimum space, feeding and watering of pigs, environmental enrichment, lighting and noise levels. Regarding sow stalls and farrowing crates, the legislation allows for sows and gilts to be confined in stalls and crates for a defined period and currently both are used on most Irish pig farms for management purposes. My Department has implemented specific actions to help reduce the need for routine tail docking of pigs. These include the delivery of a free animal welfare risk assessment tool for commercial pig farms in collaboration with Animal Health Ireland and Teagasc.”
“If we are successful, it will not necessarily identify more herds affected, but will identify earlier more reactors within the herds affected. We need that to happen to get them out and to stop them seeding the disease out. These new measures will require significant changes to the existing TB programme. There will be significant funding and other implications. We are currently working through the necessary preparations to implement these changes as soon as possible.”
“I want to provide that clarity as soon as possible and to restore confidence in this scheme. The final set of proposals I bring forward will be the biggest change in our approach to TB in the 75 years the disease has been in this country. I have held discussions and meetings that have fed into the TB plan, which I intend to finalise the details of and publish shortly. At a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, 24 June, I received approval and support from my Government colleagues to address the current high level of bovine TB with this plan. The Deputy is dead right to say this will be expensive. It will cost more money in the short term. I believe it is a strong business case because I am front-loading expenditure to save money in the long run. That is definitely a case I am making, but a significant amount of money will be required.”
“The skin test has 80% efficacy. I want to introduce a lot more blood testing in high-risk categories. The efficacy rate of such testing is over 90%. Ultimately, there is more TB left in herds that we have to identify. We have to identify it early and get it out rather than waiting and finding it later on because that is where the disease is seeding. There is a range of measures we can take to address that.”
“While trying to bring people with us and minimise the impact on farmers, who are already extremely stressed, I have to ensure that we have a science-based approach and that what we do is backed up by science. There are three very clear causes of the spread of bovine TB: cattle-to-cattle transmission, residual transmission and wildlife. If we do not have a suite of measures that, when layered over one another, give us a level of cover that addresses all three of those areas, we will fail. That involves difficult decisions for all of us. It also involves a change of practice in how my Department operates, in how testing operates, in how we deal with herds and in what is identified as a high-risk herd because what we have been doing has not worked and has left gaps. That is because we do not have 100% foolproof testing.”
“At these meetings, I presented five key pillars to address the current rates of bovine TB. The first was to support herds free of bovine TB in remaining free. The second was to reduce the impact of wildlife on the spread of bovine TB. The third was to detect and eliminate bovine TB infection as early as possible in herds with a TB breakdown to avoid future breakdowns. The fourth was to help farmers improve all areas of on-farm biosecurity and the fifth was to reduce the impact of known high-risk animals in spreading bovine TB. I will provide further answers in my supplementary responses.”
“Herd incidence has increased from 4.31% in 2022 to 6.04% in 2024, resulting in a 36% increase in the number of herds restricted between 2022 and 2024. As of 22 June of this year, over a 12-month period we had a herd incidence of 6.43%. In 2024, it was 6.04% and it is now 6.43% with over 43,455 reactors. This disease is having an impact on farmers and their families both financially and emotionally throughout rural Ireland. As the Deputy will know, following extensive discussions at the TB forum, I met with TB stakeholders on 8 May and farming organisations and key stakeholders on 22 May with a view to agreeing an action plan for bovine TB based on the most effective ways to mitigate the impact of bovine TB on farm families and to reduce herd incidence and spread of the disease.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. To answer his question directly, the last thing farmers need is a further increase in the spread of TB. That is the root cause of all of this stress and concern, which the Deputy has articulated very clearly and on which I completely agree with him. My job is to provide leadership and to bring farmers with us. Everybody is going to have to do a little bit more here. That includes my Department and its officials as regards my budget. We are all going to have to do a bit more as we change our approach to TB. As the Deputy will know, bovine TB is a very challenging disease to control and eradicate. Levels have continued to deteriorate in recent years.”
“When you consider input costs relating to the long-term leasing of land and the price farmers are paying in that regard if they are farming more than their own land, the input costs of machinery, depreciation and the very high cost of replacing machinery, and all of the other input costs, you will see that the risk-reward ratio in respect of that investment is very challenging. That is why I will continue to work with the tillage sector, provide targeted support given the importance of the sector within the wider agriculture industry and deliver on the commitment in the programme for Government to invest significantly in the tillage sector over the next five years.”
“At the end of the day, we continue to have those supports in place. There is strong co-operation, €10 million for the protein aid scheme and the allocation of money for the intervention earlier this year. While that was to recognise last year's hardship, it came out of the budget for this year, which I have to manage for tillage and all other sectors. I will continue to work with the sector. I absolutely recognise the challenges. The latest Teagasc income figure is €38,000.”
“The tillage sector is supported under other schemes, including the tillage capital investment scheme, the organic farming scheme and ACRES. There are many farmers who are glad to be in ACRES this time. The water quality European Innovation Partnership, EIP, is also open to them. There is, therefore, a range of measures to support our tillage sector.”
“I concur and agree with the Deputy that we want to see growth in the tillage sector. After two really hard years, I am very heartened to see a slight increase on last year in the area under arable and tillage crops. In the face of two horrendous years, it has stabilised. This year is difficult. Futures prices for the sector are still very challenging. It is the one sector of agriculture that has not seen a big uplift in commodity prices. At the same time, the crops are looking good. We have had a good year as regards weather. The winter crops in particular are looking very clean and full. We are very hopeful for a good harvest. Spring crops are obviously always somewhat more variable but a lot more winter crops were sowed in the back end of last year because of the weather. We will keep a very close eye on it from that perspective.”
“In February this year, I announced €32.4 million of payments under the tillage and horticulture support scheme, which was the Government’s response to the difficult position tillage and horticultural farmers found themselves in due to exceptionally poor weather and continued high input costs last spring. This exceeds the €30 million provided for in last year's budget. I had to try to find extra money within my budget and made that decision to prioritise because I was anxious that we be able to make the payment on every hectare of eligible ground. The extra €2.5 million was part of that.”
“Applications for over 66,000 ha of cereals and oilseed rape straw were submitted for chopping and incorporating in 2025 under the straw incorporation measure. I have committed to paying all farmers who have applied under the scheme. I have made this decision early to give certainty to farmers while also giving them an economic boost. In financial terms, €10 million per year was budgeted for straw incorporation as part of the CAP strategic plan, CSP, but the applications this year amount to over €15 million. It is not an insignificant decision for me to make in regard to managing my budget, but I wanted to do it to be able to provide that certainty and support. I am a major supporter of straw incorporation. I believe it does great work and provides a number of great benefits to our farmers.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The tillage sector is an integral part of Irish farming and makes a really significant contribution to overall agricultural output. This Government recognises the importance of the sector and wants to grow the area under tillage crops in the years ahead. The report of the Food Vision 2030 tillage group, which was set up to set out a roadmap for the growth and development of the sector, identifies opportunities to grow the sector and to further improve its environmental footprint. My Department continues to engage with stakeholders to progress the actions in the report through collaboration with all stakeholders. My Department has provided significant support to tillage farmers in recent years. The budget for protein aid has increased to €10 million annually since 2024.”
“We do not want to put an extra burden on business but the Agri-Food Regulator was set up for an important reason. There was a need for it. I wish to repeat that I am fully committed to ensuring the regulator is equipped with the necessary powers to fulfil its statutory function, subject to the legislative and consultative processes. I cannot be any clearer on that. I hope to see clear progress in the near future. As I previously mentioned, this was a commitment in the programme for Government so it should not be a surprise to anybody.”
“I thank the Senator again. On his last point, I take my responsibility to both Houses very importantly. I always try to answer the Commencement matters or Topical Issue matters that are put to me or my colleagues within the Department. It is important and I thank the Senator for acknowledging that. This is novel legislation that would place an onus on business to supply financial data that goes beyond that which is required across the EU. It is not an insignificant ask. I want to ensure that any proposed additional powers are subject to an appropriative legislative process and do not give rise to any unintended consequences. It is our responsibility in both Houses to make sure that we look out for unintended consequences and that when we are trying to fix one problem, we do not create another.”
“Pending the finalisation of the legislative and consultative process, it remains open to the regulator to seek financial data from businesses and to publish reports on the price and market. I hope the Senator takes on board from the broad response I have given that this is something I am taking seriously. We did not set up the Agri-Food Regulator in order for it not to be able to do its job. We would not be in this position if everybody had provided the information they were required to provide. At the same time, we want to make sure that any intervention or statutory instrument I may bring forward will be proportionate and take due account. The regulator is very much aware of its responsibilities in handling such sensitive information.”
“In particular, I must have regard for the SME test, which is also a programme for Government commitment relating to legislation. I am aware that there is a concern in the business sector. I have met with IBEC and business representatives and heard their concern that compelling Irish agrifood businesses to provide financial data may give rise to competitive advantages for businesses in other EU member states. This is because it may go beyond the current EU requirements. The regulator has advised me that it is fully aware of its responsibilities on protecting information that may be commercially sensitive. My Department is committed to working with the regulator and stakeholders on this matter.”
“The Act does not permit the regulator to compel such data. However, the Act provides that the Minister may make regulations on price and market information. In addition, the programme for Government commits to giving the Agri-Food Regulator enhanced powers to ensure transparency in the food supply chain with regard to providing market information. I am fully committed to ensuring that the regulator is equipped with the necessary powers to fulfil its statutory function, subject to the legislative and consultative process. I need to ensure that the powers granted are proportionate. My Department and I are in discussions with the Agri-Food Regulator and other key stakeholders to see how this can be achieved. As part of that process, it is appropriate for me to consider relevant factors before making any such regulations.”
“It is appropriate to mention at this juncture that the regulator has already had a successful prosecution for a UTP breach. On the price and market analysis function, over the last year the regulator has published welcome analysis on two sectors: the egg and horticulture sectors. Such reports are important to assist food suppliers in their decision-making. While there has been much positive engagement with the regulator from operators who have responded to requests for data, there were a few operators who did not provide the requested data. The two reports were as a result published using publicly available data. In light of its experience concerning those reports, the regulator has reported to me that it requires enhanced powers to compel businesses to provide financial information that is not in the public domain.”
“It is that second function we are discussing today. Section 12 of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Act 2023 requires the regulator to publish analysis of information about price and market data relating to the agricultural and food supply chain. Currently, in respect of that function, the Act provides that the regulator may "seek from businesses ... any data impacting upon price and margins considered necessary". Such data sought by the regulator includes but is not limited to the items listed in the legislation. I wish to emphasise that this price and market function is separate and distinct from the regulator’s function to enforce the law on UTP. The regulator has extensive powers to obtain data from businesses in the course of UTP investigations.”
“I thank the Senator for raising this important matter. I will pass on his good wishes to Bord Bia. I look forward to meeting him at Bloom on Thursday evening and to the fantastic bank holiday ahead. A huge number of people have put an awful lot of work in there. It is a great opportunity for us to showcase the best in our food and horticulture sector and beyond. It is something that people take great pride in and put huge work into. It will be a positive weekend. I encourage everyone to go along to Bloom this weekend. As the Senator is aware from his involvement in the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill that established Ireland’s first independent Agri-Food Regulator, the regulator performs two key functions. It enforces the law on unfair trading practices, UTP, and it performs a price and market analysis and reporting function.”
“When I assumed this role. it was not acceptable to me to meet so many farmers where in many instances, the fault was with the Department. In some instances it was with themselves for various reasons but in the majority of cases, it has been on our side. I have visited Johnstown Castle and have engaged directly with the officials. I have directed additional resources into the units. I have got down into the detail of the different cohorts and how they are affected. One reason it takes time to fix this is that I am not willing to have a quick fix that needs a manual intervention every year. I want to make sure that the resolution here means that this problem does not recur every year. That is why we are getting through this and I stick to the commitments I made previously to resolve this as quickly as possible.”
“As regards 2024, 90% of participants have received their advance payments and almost 88% of these have now received a balancing payment. To be clear, my Department is committed to resolving the issues that have been delaying the remaining payments as soon as possible and is making progress in this regard. I know that is cold comfort if you are one of the few who still have not been sorted. We have made significant progress and built momentum, which I continue to do.”
“As the Deputy will be aware, ACRES is the flagship environmental scheme provided under the CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027 with €1.5 billion in Exchequer and EU funding allocated over the course of the scheme. Payments in respect of farmers' participation in the ACRES scheme continue to issue on a weekly basis as cases pass all validation checks. Last week, I announced that balancing payments in respect of the 2024 scheme year have commenced with more than €33 million issuing to 42,444 participants. A total of €490 million has issued since ACRES payments commenced at the end of 2023. However, I am acutely aware that others are still awaiting payments. This is a source of great frustration for me. I have been dealing with it since the minute I assumed this role. In the case of the 2023 scheme year, 97% of participants have been paid in full.”
“The final point is reducing the impact of known high-risk animals in spreading bovine TB. If we follow the science, we can make a significant difference and greatly reduce the number of people directly impacted and the economic impact that is so devastating for our farmers and farm families. I would love to be able to do that with consensus of the key stakeholders I will meet later this week.”
“I agree. The Deputy spoke about the investment from my Department. It will take increased investment in the short term to try to get on top of this issue. I am willing to do that in order to prioritise. There are three key drivers of the infection: the role of wildlife, cattle-to-cattle transmission and the residual element left in herds that had a significant breakdown. My five-point plan includes supporting herds free of bovine TB to remain free; reducing the impact of wildlife on the spread of bovine TB; detecting and eliminating bovine TB infection as early as possible in a TB breakdown to avoid future breakdowns; and helping farmers to improve all areas of on-farm biosecurity. There are simple measures that can greatly reduce, statistically, the risk of the spread of infection.”
“The Deputy highlighted the key numbers. By working together we can do this if we follow the science. There are three causes of that infection. We have to deal with all three elements.”
“There absolutely is. There is also the emotional impact and trauma, which I would not underestimate. I remember when we had a reactor at home on the farm in Kildare in the 1990s when I was still in school and the devastation of seeing that cow and that reactor go. It stayed with me for a long time afterwards. I want to do two things. I want to provide a clear pathway to those directly impacted by this disease where they can see light at the end of the tunnel. Many say to me they do not have that sense; there is a sense of hopelessness right now. That is not a good place for anyone to be in. Second, I want to avoid the 94% of farmers not affected by bovine TB, besides having to do an annual herd test, having to get this. We would greatly reduce the number of farms, farm families and herds impacted and, therefore, the number of reactors.”
“On 8 May, I held a TB summit to address the deteriorating TB disease levels with key stakeholders at which discussions were held on the most effective ways to mitigate the impact of bovine TB on farm families and to reduce herd incidence and spread of the disease. I have outlined on the record that I have 30 proposed actions across five key pillars. My approach is to try to get consensus. We will meet farm organisations and stakeholders again later this week. We cannot do business as usual, such are the numbers. We want to work together to ease this burden on farmers and the stress as well as the financial impact on them.”
“Herd incidence has increased from 4.31% in 2022 to 6.04% in 2024, resulting in a 36% increase in the number of herds restricted between those two years. As of 11 May, over a 12-month period we had a herd incidence of 6.3% with more than 42,200 reactors. This disease is having an impact on farmers and their families both financially and emotionally throughout rural Ireland. At the February meeting of the TB forum, it was agreed that all stakeholders would provide proposals on new measures for inclusion in the TB programme aimed at reducing TB levels in cattle against the backdrop of surging disease levels. The TB forum met on 26 March, at which representatives presented their proposals for measures aimed at reducing the high levels of TB. The chair of the TB forum wrote to me following this meeting outlining discussions at the meeting.”
“I thank Deputy Burke for raising this very important issue. I know it is a cause of great concern. Even if I had not been engaging with farm organisations, since I got this role, on the area of TB and if I had not been pointing to the fact I need a new approach to the TB programme, which I would like to do through consensus, there is that concern with farmers already. The concern at the rise in the incidence of TB is palpable among farmers. Those who have it on their farms are very stressed and want a clear pathway out of their current restrictions, while those who do not have it do not want to get it and are very much afraid the rising incidence means they will get it. Bovine TB is a challenging disease to control and eradicate. In recent years, bovine TB levels have continued to deteriorate.”
“As regards the sustainability credentials of what we are doing, farmers can do more than one thing at the one time. We are producing top-quality food that is a very important source of income for them, our country and our rural economy. At the same time, we will be reducing emissions three years in a row, we see an improvement in water quality and an improvement in biodiversity, and farmers continue to work in that regard because they can do more than one thing at the one time.”
“I take that on board. What we have always said is that property rights are enshrined in the Constitution and farmers, as owners of the land, have rights there. Where they are supported to do so and the income is there for them to support their farming activity, they have proven themselves to be very adaptable. Farming is changing. Farming changes. It is very different today from what it was a generation ago, when my parents farmed, and it will be again when my children are farming. It will be a very different scenario and we are adopting all those sustainability credentials, taking on all the opportunities that provides. As I said, I have seen it from the trade perspective. Our pasture-based system here is unique and is a unique selling point for us.”
“I have always said farmers cannot go green environmentally if they are in the red financially, but the truth is that the smart business play, not just the right thing to do by our environment, for our farmers is adopting more of these sustainability measures, once we make sure that sustainability stool is equally divided between the economic, the environmental and the societal. We are definitely making great strides in that space and farmers are doing their bit.”
“We have so many supports available for our farmers, who are up for this challenge, as I said earlier. I am accompanied by the Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae, who has a budget of €1.3 billion underpinning the forestry programme 2023-2027, which is the means by which we are implementing the forestry strategy and supporting farmers and the industry to reduce emissions through carbon capture, which Deputy Heneghan outlined in many different ways. It is really important. My Department supports a range of other climate change mitigation activities, including improvement in bovine genetics, which has a massive potential in terms of the scalability and the cumulative benefit year on year, investments in solar panels on farms, support for multi-species swards, and many other measures.”
“Pathways to enable the sector to meet its 2030 climate ambitions in the agriculture and land use sectors are set out in the Climate Action Plan, which is now reviewed and updated annually in accordance with the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021. Ireland's Common Agricultural Policy strategic plan is supporting farmers to transition to more sustainable practices while also supporting family farm incomes, with a budget of €9.8 billion. As part of Ireland's Common Agricultural Policy strategic plan, my Department is providing €1.5 billion for the agri-environmental scheme ACRES, increased funding for organic farming, which has increased the area farmed organically in Ireland to 248,000 ha, and €260 million to improve the carbon efficiency of the suckler herd through genetic improvement.”
“I reassure the Deputy that this sector is up to the challenge, supported by the Government. It is something I am focusing on and will continue to focus on through collaboration and engagement with all involved. The EPA published the Ireland's Final Greenhouse Gas Emissions 1990-2023 report in April of this year, which sets out that total greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture sector in Ireland in 2023 were 20.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents. This represents a year-on-year decrease on 2022 of 4.9% of greenhouse gas emissions from the sector. While this decrease represents notable progress, it is important we continue to support Irish farmers and maintain this positive trajectory towards meeting our targets.”
“I thank the Deputy for raising a very important point. I am delighted to be able to put on the record that I am committed to the long-term viability of the Irish agriculture sector, as the Deputy would obviously expect me, as Minister for agriculture, to say. Included in that are farm families, who are the bedrock of the sector, the agrifood industry and the rural economy. The industry is hugely important in terms of economic activity and employment. At the same time, Ireland's national and EU ambitions on climate, land use and biodiversity are challenging and will require the application of the best scientific and technological advancements available, coupled with engagement of all stakeholders, if we are to meet both national and international commitments.”
“I will go to the Seoul Food expo in Korea, the fourth largest food exhibition in Asia, and follow that with the World Expo in Osaka, Japan. I will be accompanied by Bord Bia, which, as a semi-State agency, is our direct link with those companies. They tell us where their key opportunities are, we work on market access issues and we work on trade promotion with those companies. What benefits food companies and their exports also benefits farmers and feeds directly down to that balanced regional development and the importance of the rural economy.”