I completely agree with the Deputy. The truth is finance was found last year and has been found again for next year to support the tillage sector at a time of constrained budgets and a lot of competing demands on budgets. The farming for water European Innovation Partnership, EIP, of which tillage farmers are availing, has a budget of €60 million to support targeted on-farm additional measures to improve water qualit…
TDs / Martin Heydon
Martin Heydon
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Portrait: © Houses of the Oireachtas (Oireachtas (Open Data) PSI Licence) · source file
0
questions asked
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them
128,151
words spoken in the chamber
127,978 as a minister, 173 as a TD
404
votes recorded
Each Yes, No or Abstained in a recorded vote
From the Dáil chamber only: committee meetings are not in this archive.
Members of the Government answer parliamentary questions rather than ask them, so this page lists none of theirs.
Month by month
Low months are usually recesses, when the Dáil does not sit. The archive runs to 22 October 2026.
Contributions to debates 530 in all
Dec 2024Oct 2026
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| Month | Contributions |
|---|---|
| December 2024 | 0 |
| January 2025 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 7 |
| March 2025 | 8 |
| April 2025 | 38 |
| May 2025 | 41 |
| June 2025 | 2 |
| July 2025 | 28 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 2 |
| October 2025 | 59 |
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| December 2025 | 13 |
| January 2026 | 61 |
| February 2026 | 31 |
| March 2026 | 39 |
| April 2026 | 15 |
| May 2026 | 44 |
| June 2026 | 1 |
| July 2026 | 42 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 1 |
| October 2026 | 45 |
Debates they spoke in most
Plus 425 contributions in the regular slots, such as Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions. Speech from the chair is not counted.
Party, constituency and offices
- constituency Kildare South 29 November 2024 to now
- party Fine Gael 29 November 2024 to now
- office Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine 23 January 2025 to now
The whiskey file is one element that we can do as part of that future-proofing piece. In the meeting with the tillage farmers on the night in question I discussed the role of quality assurance, which we can make progress on if we all work together, and addressing the use of native grains, how they are used in our feed system, how they are incorporated and how we can monetise that for farmers. Teagasc will say that th…
Bovine TB is an ongoing challenge for Irish farmers. I am acutely aware of the emotional and financial impacts of bovine TB on farmers, their families and rural Ireland. In recent years, we have seen a significant increase in bovine TB levels nationally, with over 6,000 farm families affected by a bovine TB outbreak in 2024, and herd incidence at 6.04%. The primary driver of the cost of the bovine TB programme is dis…
As part of the work of the TB forum, which has done extensive work down the years, a dedicated financial working group was established to review the financial modelling of various elements of the bovine TB eradication programme. Agreement was reached within the group in the past two years and there were rate enhancements to the income supplements scheme, the hardship grant and the depopulation grant, as well as enhan…
I am working with the Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae, on farmer mental health and well-being. This really is a key stressor and when somebody can have a significant breakdown. We want to support farmers through that journey. As the senior Minister with responsibility for the approach to bovine TB, the best way I can do that is give light at the end of the tunnel to those farmers who are in that cycle of continuo…
I thank Deputy Burke for raising this point. I know it is a big issue in County Cork, as it is throughout the country. The income supplement scheme he referenced has been reviewed and there have been increases in thresholds across the hardship grant, depopulation grant and others. At the heart of all of these grants and supports is the fact that we have a disease that is wreaking havoc and causing great stress and st…
I cannot stress any further that I am absolutely aware of the financial impact on farm families who have continuous reactors, whose herds are locked up and all of the strain that brings. That is why the additional money I get and the significant resources I now have must go into tackling the spread of the disease. It is pivotal. I do not want future generations of families to go through that same stress, financial tu…
-----but I have to direct the financial resources I have to stopping the spread of the disease. That is my clear focus here.
Ongoing geopolitical tensions have meant that food security is increasingly at the forefront of the political agenda both at EU and global level. Ireland is among the most food secure countries in the world. As part of the EU Single Market and the Common Agricultural Policy, Ireland benefits from robust mechanisms that underpin food security across Europe.
There is a series of instruments embedded in the EU policy f…
I meet individuals from Talamh Beo at different events. It has a role to play. We need to get a handle on why Ireland is one of the most food secure nations in the world according to key metrics. It is not because we produce every bit of food that is consumed on the island; it is because of the highly integrated nature of our food supply system around the world. It means from an environmental perspective, food should…
I thank Deputy Burke for raising a critical issue for the future of our sector. The programme for Government prioritises "Supporting inter-generational farm succession". Food Vision 2030, our shared strategy for the agrifood sector, states generational renewal in farming is critically important to ensure the future viability and social sustainability of the Irish agrifood sector and of rural Ireland. There are a numb…
Yes, and that why we established the interdepartmental group within my Department on its implementation. The implementation piece of this report is so important because ultimately, it is about clear action. Some of these measures require the structure of the next CAP post 2027 to be able to implement. A national budget is not going to deliver the type of succession scheme that would previously always have been in the…
Very clearly there is not the bandwidth in a national budget to deliver very big succession schemes that would run to hundreds of millions of euro but the design of the next CAP is already under way, as is the fighting over the multi-annual financial framework or the overall budget for that area. I spoke earlier about how I funded a locally-led initiative in Mayo in my previous role as a Minister of State. The Béal Á…
I thank the Deputy. Neglect of, or causing unnecessary suffering to, animals is not acceptable in our society in any circumstances. The programme for Government places a positive emphasis on animal welfare and specifically commits to the continued robust enforcement of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, which provides a modern framework for regulating and applying standards in the area of animal health and welfa…
My Department is committed to reviewing all legislation relating to dogs, and in this regard it will be guided by the recommendations of the dog control stakeholder group. I expect the group to revert to me with recommendations on the matter in due course. In the meantime, I am fully committed to progressing the work in this area. My Department is also aware of the campaign the Deputy references and will consider all…
We are reviewing the legislation. This is a responsibility that has come into my domain in recent months. As a Deputy who was part of the negotiating team for the programme for Government, and having been a Minister of State in the Department of agriculture, I was really keen for this to come under the remit of agriculture. I thought it was the right fit and that it is the right place for it to be. Mindful that I mig…
Along with the Tánaiste, who has lead responsibility for trade policy, I have actively engaged with both the European Commission and other member states across the EU to voice Ireland's concerns on the EU-Mercosur agreement. Ireland has serious concerns on the preferential access being given to Mercosur if South American farmers are not subject to the same sustainable farming standards as our own farmers. We have rep…
It is very clear, as I sit on the AGRIFISH Council, that some of my colleague Ministers for agriculture speak glowingly of the Mercosur agreement and what it would mean for their farmers and agricultural sectors. There are some countries that are very strongly of the view that this an agreement that should have been agreed ages ago. Not every country is opposed to it.
We work with like-minded countries. I will be th…
I will not waste lots of time talking about it. A number of EU countries, such as Spain and others, and their ministers for agriculture speak glowingly of Mercosur. That is a fact. Those meetings are public and open for people to see. I do not need list the countries in question. We are in the minority at that Council in terms of continually raising concerns around this space. However, we do it because of the sensiti…
The Deputy did not finish the first bit.
The Deputy has not read it.
Hear, hear.
Shocking.
Budget 2026 will make a robust contribution to the development and resilience of the agrifood, fisheries and forestry sectors. We have a strong economy that, thanks to the hard work of the Irish people, has weathered multiple crises. However, we are living through a time of economic uncertainty. It is essential that we take every measure to protect jobs and livelihoods. Irelands's agrifood sector employs approximatel…
That was based on modelling from June. The most recent modelling shows it is reducing.