We will get an opportunity to discuss all elements of this through the five Stages of the legislation when I introduce it to the House and get it cleared. I have not made a decision on the cap yet. I still have an open mind. I have advice from the Attorney General. There are challenges around it that we will get to discuss through the detailed phases of the legislation. Are we comparing like with like in terms of the…
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
Show as a table
| 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 |
| November 2025 | 53 |
| 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
I thank Deputy Burke very much for raising what is no doubt a key point. From early 2021, the Central Statistics Office, CSO, agricultural price indices, which measure the level of input costs and output prices paid and received by farmers, saw significant growth and volatility relative to previous years. Unprecedented shocks including Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine contributed…
Deputy Burke's points are well made. I can assure him and the House of one thing, which is that there will be no complacency from me or my colleagues in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in terms of the price pressures this has on all of our sectors. Our sectors are very vulnerable. As I pointed out in my earlier answer, we had a good year, by and large, in terms of commodity prices for our products …
I was delighted to be able to introduce the tillage sustainability support scheme earlier this year. I have not been found wanting in standing up and supporting a tillage sector that has been under pressure in recent times. The same applies to horticulture. It is gravely concerning that the vegetable and fruit crops element has been greatly narrowed down. We have lost businesses in that sector such are the tight marg…
I thank Deputy O'Hara for his question. Negotiations on the post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy have progressed since the European Commission published its proposals last year. As President of the Council of the European Union, Ireland is now building on the progress made under the Danish and Cypriot Presidencies. Our priority is to facilitate discussions on the remaining political and technical issues, on the CAP-s…
What is fairly clear from all utterances in the 17-odd months I have been in this job is my strong desire to protect the CAP budget, building alliances with member state colleagues in the AGRIFISH Council but also here in government and at Cabinet, articulating exactly why the CAP is so important to us. Ireland is a net contributor to the EU; we pay in more than we get back. That is something we should be proud of as…
It is important to point out that we are talking about the Commission's proposals. Commissioner Hansen put forward the Commission's position last year as to how he would like to see the next CAP going. He has a lot of recommendations in that. My job, as part of the Presidency, is to progress the Council's position on the AGRIFISH Council for next six months. The Council is the 27 ministers for agriculture and fisheri…
I thank Deputy Ní Raghallaigh for being in for agriculture questions today. It is great to see her here for this.
A very important pillar of Government policy is to ensure the horse and greyhound racing industries achieve their maximum potential, and in so doing, contribute to economic and social development over a wide geographic distribution. The Deputy is well aware that our own constituency of Kildare South bene…
I thank the Deputy. As regards the economic and employment impact and benefit of the greyhound racing industry, this is outlined in the economic and financial significance of the Irish greyhound racing industry report.
I concur on the importance of care and welfare. A strong commitment to improve animal welfare in the greyhound racing industry is set out in the programme for Government, which requires Rásaíocht Con …
The Deputy answered her own question in a way at the start by saying we have heard all these things about traceability and beyond. I can outline what is there, the fact we have undertaken a review of the fund and how it is done. That report is there for all to be seen.
Rásaíocht Con Éireann operates a range of welfare initiatives to ensure the high standards of greyhound welfare are maintained within the industry. T…
Two weeks.
I thank the Deputy for raising this really important issue. I know how important tillage is for the south east and the Wicklow-Wexford area. The straw incorporation measure is a really positive support measure for tillage farmers, with very positive impacts on organic carbon levels in soil. I am acutely aware of how important it is to farmers from an income perspective as well. This year has seen a really high level …
The Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, outlined the Government's position very clearly in the debate last Thursday evening. The Government will be opposing Deputy Murphy's Bill.
I thank Deputy Collins for raising this important issue. The Food Vision seafood sector group was launched on 16 February by me and my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley. The group was established in a response to the significantly reduced fishing opportunities for 2026 and will operate under the auspices of the Food Vision 2030 group, through which we have had a series of Food Vision subgroups to look a…
And the very cafes she would advocate for.
I thank Deputy O'Donoghue. I am delighted to see thousands of farmers and farm contractors applying for our fuel support scheme for them. That has a very clear definition. Under EU state aid rules, we have to define the activity and in this case it is agricultural production. The Government has committed to and is working on separate lines of support for those in the plant industry. Where agricultural contractors are…
Nobody has a monopoly on passion or care for animals, including horses and dogs, or any other elements of animal welfare. As Minister with responsibility for animal welfare, I am determined to drive an agenda of change in a whole host of areas. I was part of the negotiations on the programme for Government when we transferred the control of dogs back to my Department, which is the right place for it. This is a clear …
I thank the Deputy for raising a really important point. When I reflect on the key things throughout my term in this position, different issues will come up to be dealt with from day to day but I have always been clear there are a number of big things I will ultimately be judged on. Last year, nitrates was the key headline figure that you could never take your eye off. Throughout that time, I was building relationshi…
I take those points of view on board. It is important to bear in mind and to explain to the public the process this goes through. There are three legs to the stool in terms of CAP and overall EU policy. The Commission puts forward the proposals around the CAP. The Council of agri ministers, of which I am a member and which I will chair when we have the Presidency from July to the end of the year, involves each of the…
The Deputy's points around generational renewal are very valid. We need to make sure that we have fairness and a balanced distribution of supports across the board. We want to learn from the mistakes of the past. The old retirement scheme was a mistake. It banished older experienced farmers from farms completely and replaced them with newer farmers. There needs to be a partnership approach. I know from my family circ…
I thank the Deputy for asking this question. I reassure him that specialist horticulture has not been forgotten. The Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, and I have mentioned it when we talked about fuel support and securing the €100 million package. We talked about farmers, farm contractors, fishers, forestry and specialist horticulture. That will form a part of this support package. It is different because the produce…
I agree with the Deputy that it is a very important sector. It is more important than just for the Deputy's constituency in north County Dublin. It is really important to the overall ecosystem of how our food is produced. It is a sector that is feeling real pressure, and I recognise that. It is a sector that has become quite marginalised and narrowed down and pressure from very large retailers has made it a very diff…
Because of the importance of the horticulture sector, and specialist horticulture in particular, my Department already provides significant support measures to the Irish horticulture industry through a range of initiatives. We provided €15.7 million in supports to the sector in 2025, excluding supports under basic income support for sustainability, BISS, targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMs, and organics.…
I thank Deputy Cooney for raising what is a significant issue, not just for farmers in County Clare but also for their counterparts across the country. The straight answer to a straight question is that I do believe eradication of TB is possible and is something that can be delivered. However, there was no way it was going to be delivered by means of the trajectory we were on up until last year, when we were seeing a…
Budget 2026 provided an increased budget for the TB programme, with a record €157 million allocated for this reason in 2026. This will allow the TB programme to focus on driving down the disease through the implementation of measures laid out in my new bovine TB action plan. It will support and enable farm families who are currently dealing with the stress of a TB outbreak to navigate a way out of a TB restriction an…