Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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43. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the work his Department is undertaking in the current year on precision fermentation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19394/24]

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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55. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the position regarding the results of his Department's thematic research call in 2023; if any successful projects are included that relate in any aspect to precision fermentation; if so, to detail the specific research projects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19393/24]

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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Both of these questions refer to precision fermentation. Question No. 43 is more general, namely, to ask what research work the Department is doing and the horizon scanning that is taking place in the Department on this issue. Question No. 55 is a more specific question that relates to the Department’s thematic research goal in 2023. The Minister will know I have tabled a parliamentary question on this before that thematic call. Have any of the successful applications to the thematic call included precision fermentation?

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 43 and 55 together.

A key instrument of my Department’s funding of research is the thematic research call, to which the Deputy referred, which is typically run every second year. I launched the 2023 call in March last year, with the aim of funding pioneering research in areas such as climate mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity and water quality, sustainable farming, animal health and welfare, social sustainability, the bioeconomy, agri-digitalisation, and safe, healthy and sustainable food. In December, I was pleased to announce the first tranche of successful projects. This saw 20 research grants worth just over €24 million to support research across 16 institutes. Precision fermentation did not form part of any of the these awards.

I expect to announce a further tranche of successful projects from this call in the coming weeks. One of those will examine the potential for alternative plant-based protein using fermentation technology, not precision fermentation, while another will seek to create an all-island Irish network of research organisations to ensure diverse facilities and expertise can be leveraged for research and innovation in areas such as precision fermentation, production of bio-based proteins and chemicals, and development of sustainable bio-based processes.

Separately, the U-protein project, funded by my Department from the 2019 thematic research call, is examining the role of crop and marine resources as alternative sources of protein, and there is a small component looking at using precision fermentation in the utilisation of waste streams for food and non-food uses such as bioplastics.

Precision fermentation builds on traditional fermentation techniques that have been used in food production for many years. Besides its use in the area of plant proteins, precision fermentation also offers possibilities as part of a circular food system. It has the potential to be used for making better use of food processing side streams by extracting valuable components for other food and non-food uses such as bioplastics.

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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I tabled these questions and it would be expected that a Green Party Member's primary interest would be in emissions reduction in the production of our food, but in this case it is not. In this case it is in horizon scanning. The Minister will remember when our sugar market was deregulated. There was a situation where we were not allowed to import raw cane sugar and we had a sugar beet industry here on this island. We were told as we approached the point where the raw cane sugar was to start coming in that the Irish consumer would support the sugar beet industry and would be happy to pay the 5 cent or 10 cent extra on a bag of sugar, but what happened was that our beet industry collapsed. People seamlessly changed to the slightly cheaper brand of sugar and suddenly we were in bother. I have a real worry about our dairy industry because, if we crack alternative milks, be it through precision fermentation or whatever else, that will have an immediate impact on the milk cheque that pays for the new dairy that has been installed, the loan someone has taken out for slurry management on their farm and all of those things. I want to have a sense that the Minister’s Department is scanning the horizon for these threats because, by God, it will have a serious and profound impact on our dairy industry if somebody cracks this technology.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this. There is significant potential here and we do have to invest in new research. That is why we have the thematic research calls and why precision fermentation is one of the areas which is open for application. We will continue to invest, not only in the precision fermentation area but right across new and emerging science in the agrifood sector. It is open to people to apply as we try to bring these forward. Many exciting projects are taking place or are in the offing.

On the dairy sector and the milk we produce, we are very fortunate to have what we have, which is an exceptionally nutritious food in milk and the other food products, like cheese, which come from its processing. We can look to having a very strong future there, but we must also make sure we are at the cutting edge of science and that we are looking at all opportunities. That is why we are investing so much in research in agrifood and that is why it is so important we are investigating potential such as this and why we are open to applications in this area too.

Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party)
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We do produce the highest quality of dairy, but I am concerned. I have seen farmers across the south east make huge investments in their milking parlours. They are investing a quarter of a million and essentially have a mortgage repayment on it. Slurry storage is another very expensive area. I know a farmer who put half a million into his slurry storage, and the repayments on those loans are predicated on the milk cheque.

My concern is that we should be mapping this forward because if something happens to displace the sale of milk, then farm families are in real difficulty. Alternative meat is a while away because it is difficult to crack. I refer to such things as marbling and sear. That is less the case with dairy and dairy derivatives. We are seeing the Kerry Group investing massively in this area. In 2020, it acquired c-LEcta. A lot of money is going into this area already and I want to make sure the Government is keeping track of that research and horizon scanning because I see a significant threat coming down the line for the people who are so reliant on the milk cheque every month.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Ó Cathasaigh for raising the matter. The reason our food industry is so successful and is such a large part of our economy is because we have stayed at the cutting edge of research and added value. That is why we have the research funding in place through my Department. We are open to all applications on how we can progress and delve further into the scientific potential and new technologies. We will remain so. I accept the point Deputy Ó Cathasaigh makes about how crucial that is.