Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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735. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his Department’s working understanding of the definition of a family farm; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52745/22]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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According to the latest Census of Agriculture carried out by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) in 2020, over 96% of the 135,037 farm holdings in Ireland are operated as “family farms”. CSO define family farms as "farms which are operated as family-based enterprises".

With just under 4% of the total, CSO define "Commercial Farms" as "farms registered as companies which paid all their workers as employees (including management) or farms connected with institutions (e.g. schools, colleges, religious communities, prisons etc.)". It is likely that a number of the commercial farms, while registered as companies, may still operate as family farms.

Food Vision 2030, our shared strategy for the sustainable development of the agri-food strategy, is clear that the family farm model is key to social sustainability.