Martin Heydon

Deputy Collins talked about frustration. Yesterday on "Morning Ireland" he spoke to farmers at a volatile time. I absolutely accept how angry people have been and how many people have felt the challenge of the energy shock. After a volatile week when our country has been in a bad place, we all have responsibility. Everyone in this House has a mandate and was elected to help people. That is what we…

From that perspective, these interventions matter and that is why we oppose the amendment put forward by Sinn Féin.

I thank Deputy Quinlivan for raising this important matter. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is responsible for all policy and legislation in relation to the Control of Horses Act 1996. Operation of the Act comes under the remit of local authorities. Any report of welfare issues received by my Department, including breaches of the animal welfare legislation, is acted upon and inv…

I thank the Deputy for his dedication to this topic. He has raised it on more than one occasion. I absolutely agree that this issue merits attention. From my perspective, there is no shortage of resources being put in from my side. I take on board the Deputy's points about co-ordination. I am happy to work with other stakeholders - the Deputy mentioned An Garda Síochána, the county council and the…

I move: 1) THAT section 99A of the Finance Act 1999 (No. 2 of 1999) be amended, with effect as on and from 25 March 2026, by the substitution of the following for subsection (3) (as amended by section 42 of the Finance Act 2019 (No. 45 of 2019)): "(3) Where – (a) gas oil has been purchased on or after 1 January 2020 and before 1 January 2026, or on or after 1 July 2026, then, subject to a maxim…

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue and giving me the opportunity to provide an update on the situation. Bluetongue is a viral disease that can cause severe clinical signs in ruminant species, such as cattle, sheep, goats, deer and camelids, such as alpacas and llamas. There are many different serotypes of bluetongue virus, and bluetongue virus serotype 3, BTV3, is the serotype cir…

In my initial answer I said that different forms of testing have discovered those cases. The very first case was found in the standard testing of a carcase post-slaughter in an abattoir, which identified that there were antibodies present indicating that the disease was present last year.

Yes, exactly. We investigated the remaining animals in that herd and in the neighbouring herds within the radius of the farm. Some of them were found to be positive, in the sense that they had it previously. If it is the case that we find one that is positive in January or February, how we respond in January is very different from how we respond in July because an animal will only be infectious fo…

First and foremost, the cost of the vaccine is a commercial decision. We have made sure there is enough availability, working with the private suppliers of the vaccines. I am reviewing all options open to me to be able to support the sector in what is a very new challenge for us at a very challenging time. This is a real and dynamic response to a real and dynamic situation that has been evolving. …

On Deputy Kenny's point about wildlife, this is not passed from animal to animal but obviously it will be a challenge if the deer population has it and a midge lands on it but they will not pass it to each other.

I have a response here to the question the Deputy put down on the animal welfare strategy. The term of Ireland’s Animal Welfare Strategy 2021-2025: Working Together for Animal Welfare, our first ever animal welfare strategy, reached a conclusion at the end of last year. In 2025, a process was initiated to develop a new animal welfare strategy, which will act as a framework for engagement and colla…

It is unfortunate that if the Deputy intended to concentrate solely on greyhound racing, she did not just ask-----

It is unfortunate she did not ask a question specifically on that because her question was on the broader animal welfare strategy, which is much broader than that. I disagree with some of the points she made, which are a dreadful slight on the thousands of people who work in our greyhound racing industry and who love the dogs and care for them greatly.

A throwaway comment on the floor of Parliament where she says that there is hardly any traceability is not borne out by the facts. The financial support my colleagues in the Department of agriculture and I are happy to provide for the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund has seen increased allocations towards the area of welfare. On the question that was raised, I want to look at some of the success o…

As I said, responsibility for canine welfare, and the control and breeding of dogs, has recently come into my Department. I fought for it in the programme for Government talks. I feel it is a better fit coming under the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine because we also share the responsibility for animal welfare. I look forward to introducing legislation later this year to tighten up …

I thank Deputy Fitzmaurice for raising the important issue of live exports. Whether it is live exports or agrifood, my role and that of my Department is to ensure market access for Irish farmers' produce. We need to provide the greatest number of opportunities and outlets to give the best possible return for those who export it and the companies that handle it. Obviously, that will drive a return …

While I accept that and accept it is difficult for exporters at the moment, and they are meeting a lot of competition from farmers in the marts for these cattle, too, because of a shortage of cattle and a big demand from farmers for them, which makes it a challenging space, I think we would be having a much different conversation here if I had failed to reopen trade with Northern Ireland and if we…

As I said, there is ongoing engagement between exporters and officials in my Department, particularly in the veterinary health section. That was recognised in terms of the revised health certificates for Tunisia, which were secured on 18 February, and Algeria, to which we saw approximately 3,500 cattle exported in 2025 and 2,000 in 2024. That is all really important. The Deputy is dead right that…

I thank Deputy Cleere for raising the really important issue of the Common Agricultural Policy. Ireland's priorities in negotiating the CAP post 2027 are to ensure that the CAP remains properly funded, continues to support viable farm incomes and contributes to food security, rural development and environmental sustainability. The CAP plays a vital role in supporting farmers and rural communities …

I concur completely on the importance of the Common Agricultural Policy. We can talk about all the structures, all the rules and all the simplification that we can try to bring in and that I will look to bring in as we design a new scheme, but at its heart is the funding. If the overall funding envelope is 20% less than it was the last time, that is a very significant impact for our country. The …

That is it exactly. The Deputy has articulated very clearly the impact of the Common Agricultural Policy on all of our rural communities. How do we achieve that? We achieve it in a number of ways. The Deputy identified generational renewable as one of the challenges of our time. This is not a challenge unique to us in Ireland or in even Europe. With growing urbanisation around the world and the fa…

I propose to take Questions Nos. 83 and 113 together. The European Commission published its legislative proposals for the post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy in July last year, as part of its wider proposals for the next multi-annual financial framework, MFF, covering the period 2028-2034. Discussions on these proposals are currently ongoing at EU level. Under the Denmark Presidency and the Cypr…

I would like to join with Deputy Healy-Rae-----

To go back to Deputy Kenny's assertions regarding the changes to the definition of an "active farmer" for forestry, I back the Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae, in saying that the Deputy is wrong.

It is not only us who are saying the Deputy is wrong. The Social, Economic, Environmental Forestry Association of Ireland also says he is wrong in that it has very much welcomed these changes and said that they will help small farmers in the area of forestry and beyond. It is very easy to polarise these issues and the Deputy is dead right; I have no doubt I will be back here disagreeing with him a…