Rose Conway-Walsh Demands Support After Storm, Criticises ACRES
Rose Conway-Walsh urged the minister to deliver rapid supports for farmers and fishermen after storm damage and criticised failures in the ACRES system. She called for targeted aid for uninsured fishermen and oyster producers, an all-island approach to agriculture, and protections for small family farms.
Storm damage and immediate supports
She raised the impact of the storm at Owen on farmers, their infrastructure and sheds, and on fishermen, including those without insurance. She highlighted oyster producers in her constituency who lost 160,000 and said no fishing business can sustain losses of that scale, urging supports beyond existing schemes like TAMS.
ACRES system failures and payment delays
She described the ACRES rollout as a continuing debacle and warned against launching schemes without computer systems that allow timely payments. She argued the ACRES problems harm trust between farmers and the department and risk undermining engagement on climate measures.
All-island approach and Brexit-related uncertainty
She urged the minister to work on an all-island basis and to engage with the northern counterpart, noting uncertainty over farm funding in the north since Brexit. She said back-to-back systems with different regulatory and financial frameworks make life challenging for farmers on both sides of the border and argued decisions affecting agri-industries should be made on the island of Ireland, not in Westminster.
Small family farms and the Commission for Family Farms
She asked the minister to pay particular heed to small family farms and reiterated a call for establishing a Commission for Family Farms. She said targeted measures are needed to ensure small holdings are supported within wider agricultural policy.
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I wish you well in your new role. I do welcome the opportunity here today to talk about the agri-industry. It is obviously a sector that is vital for sustaining rural communities. Minister, I have to ask you again around the damage that was done during the storm at Owen for farmers and particularly for the infrastructure and their sheds, and also for fishermen, and for fishermen who were not insured as well or did not have insurance. I mentioned to you before about the seafood sector and the oyster farmers, who was one of my own constituency, 160,000 lost. No fishing business can sustain that amount of things, so I would ask you to put those supports in place as quickly as possible. Some of the damage that was done cannot be just alleviated by TAMS or an existing scheme. I think that money has to get. We have to ensure that agriculture is supported in that way. I am glad that you referred to Acres here again today. The debacle continues. We should never, ever set up a scheme within the department unless the computer system that is there lends itself to payments being made out in a timely way. This has not been done with Acres, there is not a lot of damage there, the relationship between farmers and the department and the government in terms of getting them on board for climate change. I would ask you as well, Minister, to work on an all island basis and maybe ask you in terms of your relationship with your counterpart in the north. I think it is very important that we tackle agriculture in that way. I would ask you as well, and that the Taoiseach has said tasks each of the departments with specifically doing the north-south pieces of work that is going to be measured, I would ask you maybe what intentions you have around that and I would encourage you to do that. I know our own spokesperson and the rest of us will work with you in terms of having an all island approach to agriculture that I think can be very successful. The uncertainty regarding the farm funding in the north since Brexit and the back-to-back systems with different regulatory and financial frameworks makes life very challenging for farmers on both sides of the border. You could stop me, Lás Cahillac, whenever I run over my time. We obviously believe that decisions which affect our agri-industries should be made on the island of Ireland and not by governments in Westminster. All of the challenges that we have outlined can be best met on an all island basis. But I would ask you, Minister, to pay particular heed to the small family farms as well that are operating and ask you to do what we suggested in terms of the Commission for Family Farms.
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