Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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38. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will give consideration to the proposals contained in the Commission on the Future of the Family Farm Bill 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25711/24]

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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Will the Minister give or has he given consideration to legislation Deputy Carthy and I brought forward regarding the establishment of a commission to look at the future of our family farms? Many farmers are very unsure about their future, and it would be very worthwhile looking at this subject to ensure we protect that future.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I am fully committed to the promotion and retention of the family farm model in Ireland. It is something unique and valuable. It is the heartbeat of our rural economy and the promotion of the family farm has been at centre of all my major initiatives as Minister, including almost €10 billion of investment on Irish farms under the CAP strategic plan. Implementation of this plan is now central to all of my Department's work and I believe that farmers need policy certainty now and the space to get on with their actions under their various schemes between now and the end of 2027.

Central to the development of our agrifood sector is Food Vision 2030, to which all the key stakeholders across the agrifood sector contributed and with which all the key stakeholders agree. Food Vision 2030 called for an ambitious blueprint for the sector for the years ahead supporting family farms and employment in rural Ireland and adding value sustainably into the future.

In late 2019, a committee with 32 members representative of the sector and independently chaired was established to put the 2030 strategy. The committee held 13 meetings. Following the publication of a draft strategy and associated environmental assessments for public consultation, a final strategy was agreed in July 2023. I was delighted to launch Food Vision 2030, which has been welcomed broadly across the farming sector as the way forward and a vision to which all the sector is committed with the family farm very much at the centre of it.

I have examined the Commission on the Future of the Family Farm Bill 2024 and note that the issues proposed for such a commission are the issues Food Vision 2030 has already considered. They include the economic and social future of family farms, promoting a greater understanding of food systems and ensuring farmers get fair play within the food supply chain. I know the Bill is on Second Stage and it is open to the Deputy to progress it and bring it before the Dáil but I am certainly working very collaboratively with everyone in the sector to plot an agreed way forward for the development of our agrifood sector and the protection of family farms.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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I know that strategy is there but in recent months, particularly in the past year, I have found that when I meet with farmers, they do not just talk about the schemes, income and viability. They are talking about their sons or daughters who have emigrated or the fact that they are wondering whether they should encourage their sons or daughters on to their farms in the first place. In the previous generation, it was standard that a son or daughter would take on the family farm. There was no question about it. We are at a point where the next generation is not guaranteed and there does not seem to be the feeling out there that what is in the strategy as outlined is enough to secure the future of our family farms, particularly when it comes to generational renewal and the significant challenge climate action will be for many farmers. We need to secure our agricultural sector, particularly family farms. The Minister knows that some farmers are closing their gates, so I ask him to consider taking another look at my Bill.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the fact that the Deputy put forward a Bill and that she is focusing on the family farm model. However, the fact that the collaborative system we have developed over the past 20 years, starting with former Minister for Agriculture, Deputy Brendan Smith, and Food Harvest 2020, followed by the ten-year strategy under Food Wise 2025. The most recent ten-year strategy Food Vision 2030 brings everyone in the sector together to agree the way forward and ensure that the family farm is central to that sustainable food system. This is a very robust, comprehensive and unique way to plan our agricultural sector and protect the family farm into the future. It is quite unique internationally because it gets that buy-in across the various stakeholders. This is the way to go forward in terms of how we continue to develop the sector. While I welcome initiatives, suggestions and proposals, I am very committed to the current approach, ensuring we progress with that and having everyone involved with the family farm very much at the centre.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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I appreciate that. We are now well into 2024. We need consultation on how we get to that point and ensure that what is in the strategy comes to fruition, in particular for family farms. My father would not mind me saying he is not very old - he is in his early 60s. I have two brothers farming, and for them the future is uncertain. My father would not have thought that even ten years ago, but the picture has changed a great deal. I meet many of farmers who one would expect to speak about various schemes and income but who instead are talking about the future. We need to make sure that if the strategy is the only way forward, it is implemented and there is ongoing consultation with farm organisations, in particular the likes of Macra na Feirme, and the next generation on the future of family farms because it is important that we protect and sustain them.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I agree with the Deputy on the importance of protecting and supporting family farm income. There have been more part-time farmers over the past ten, 20 or 30 years. Whether farmers are part-time or full-time, my objective has been that through the schemes and income generation opportunities we deliver in government, we make it worth their while. Food Vision 2030 is a very strong programme, vision and strategy to develop the sector and ensure that the family farm model stays at the centre of our agricultural industry.

I chair the monitoring and implementation committee every couple of months, which comprises representatives across the sector, in order to make sure that we drive forward with the implementation of the various actions set out in the strategy. In due course, we will update the strategy. It is important that the family farm model is absolutely central to that. I thank the Deputy for her contribution to the discussion and her commitment to the family farm model. I look forward to continuing that journey and supporting farmers in any way we can.