The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine will resume its discussions on Ireland’s Nitrates Action Programme (NAP) at this week’s meeting.
The committee will meet this evening (Wednesday, November 24) with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue.
Along with the NAP, the draft Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2021 are also on the agenda for today’s meeting.
Speaking ahead of the meeting at 5:30p.m in Committee Room 3 of Leinster House, committee chair and Fianna Fáil TD Jackie Cahill said that state funding is “vital to the survival of the horse and greyhound industries, which are both important in terms of jobs and revenue”.
“Budget 2022 allocates €88 million for the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund, with 80% going to Horse Racing Ireland (€70.4 million) and 20% to Bord na gCon (€17.6 million).
“The committee looks forward to engaging with the minister on how this exchequer funding will contribute to the continued development of these two industries.”
On the NAP, deputy Cahill said that the committee “supports the fundamental principle of the programme, which is to reduce the environmental impact on surface and groundwater by the farming industry”.
“But there remains a need for far-sighted solutions and there are still concerns about the impact on farm incomes and the extent to which farmers will be financially supported to implement the new measures,” the deputy added.
“We look forward to discussing these and the important policy changes with the minister.”
The Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine has 14 members, nine from the Dáil and five from the Seanad.