Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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44. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide an update on the proposal to bring forward a solution for the group known as the forgotten farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25713/24]

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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I would like to get an update on the proposed solution that has long been promised but has yet to be brought forward for the forgotten farmers.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Kerrane for raising this matter. I know it is something to which both she and I have a strong commitment and it is something I ensured was subject to a commitment in the programme for Government as I had raised it significantly on the Opposition benches. It is important we recognised that and reflected it through a forgotten farmers scheme which would set that to rights, as such. That is a commitment I have given and one on which significant preparatory work has been carried out within my Department. It is something I hope to step out in the coming months in terms of actioning it.

The challenge in recent years has been to make sure we get the new CAP right. That has put pressure on resourcing and preparation, including on the development of IT systems, among others. I want to make sure there will not be any legacy issue in the future following the delivery of this CAP programme that a future Minister will be seeking to correct in ten or 15 years. As last year was the first year of the new CAP, all efforts and energies were put into delivering and developing those schemes. Likewise, in the previous year as well, all resources were significantly stretched to make sure the preparations for the effective roll-out of the CAP were put in place and the systems developed.

In recent months I have had a team in my Department scoping out the IT capacity to be able to deliver a scheme. We have significant preparatory work done also on the definition of forgotten farmers. I will be engaging with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform on plotting a way forward and delivering a payment that reflects the fact that many of these farmers were not able to avail of some of the young farmers' schemes at the time - because they were discontinued - which other farmers would have been able to avail of previously and subsequently.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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I acknowledge the Minister's long-standing commitment to this matter but the frustration is that, every time it is raised, we are told it is coming in the next few months. We constantly hear about the scoping out of the IT systems and all of that. I understand the new CAP was obviously the priority and that it has taken a lot of time and work. I commend the Department on all of that. However, given that this issue has been going on for more than a decade, I do not believe that is an excuse and that we still do not have information on what the proposed scheme will look like.

In terms of the significant scoping out that is happening, who is the Minister engaging with on what the scheme for the forgotten farmers will look like? The key question in all of this will be who will be included in whatever scheme is brought about. Will the Minister please advise on who he is engaging with to ensure we get this scheme right for the forgotten farmers?

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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There was significant engagement with farm representative organisations on the issue and the challenge. At my request, the Department also carried out new analysis based on records available in 2021 to establish the most up-to-date position regarding the cohort of farmers who were affected. The analysis shows that approximately 3,500 farmers would meet the basic definition of forgotten farmer.

The challenge in terms of rolling this out was the fact we were under significant pressure to develop an entirely new IT system to operate the new CAP programme, which I wanted to make sure we got right, and that we deliver schemes that are fair to farmers of all types and in all parts of the country in order that they have significant funding to underpin family farm incomes as well. It has always been a priority for me to make sure we deliver on it. It is a legacy issue. The first point is that I want to make sure there are no new legacy issues created through this CAP, which I think is the case, but now I want to address this legacy issue in the coming months.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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The only question that remains is whether the Minister has an outline of a scheme, including who is going to get the payment, and if he has run it by the farm organisations and perhaps some forgotten farmers themselves to make sure he gets the scheme right. That is very important given the length of time the forgotten farmers have waited for the scheme. We must make sure the scheme the Minister announces, and the funding for said scheme, works for those who need it.

At this point, we have four sittings weeks before the summer recess. Does the Minister think he will seek this funding in the budget? Is it his aim to have the scheme in the next budget?

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Yes, that is my objective. There has been significant engagement in the past two to three years with farm organisations on the definition of who would qualify and what they missed out on. The objective then is to work with the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to secure a package that would reflect the fact that those farmers missed out during that period. A lot of the preparatory work has been completed. My next step is to engage in terms of securing the funding as well to step that out. We are now at a stage where I feel we are in a position, logistically, to be able to overlay it, having delivered the new CAP and the various schemes and given that we have the infrastructure in place.