The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) carried out almost 9.6 million tuberculosis (TB) tests on cattle in 2022, exceeding its target of 9.3 million tests, according to a new report.
The figures are contained in the recently published Public Service Performance Report which examines the effectiveness and efficiency of government departments and state bodies.
The report shows that the department had a total expenditure of €1.8 billion in 2022, compared to almost €1.7 billion in the previous year.
Of that €1.8 billion, €325 million was spent on pay, €242 million on capital, €53 million on pensions and the remaining €1.2 billion in expenditure was classified as “non-pay”.
5,607 staff were employed by the department last year, up from 5,476 in 2021.
The department spent almost €922 million on farm/sector support and controls, €431 million on policy and strategy and €332 million on food safety, animal and plant health and animal welfare.
DAFM
In 2022, the DAFM was responsible for a gross budget of some €3 billion of national and EU funds.
121,903 farmers received direct payments from the EU under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and Greening schemes.
67,019 farmers received payments through the Green Low Carbon Agri Environment Scheme (GLAS), Agri Environment Options Scheme (AEOS), Beef Data and Genomics Programme (BDGP), organics and locally led schemes.
The report shows that the department did not meet its target of paying 99,000 participants in the Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) scheme; 96,593 farmers received a payment under the scheme last year.
The report shows the department met just 28% of its target of 8,000ha of new forestry plantations; just 2,273ha of land was afforested in 2022.
The DAFM also failed to meet its target of carrying out 37,000 Bord Bia Sustainable Beef/Lamb Assurance Scheme (SBLAS) inspections, with 32,000 or 86% completed.
Exports
The report shows that the value of agri-food exports hit €18.78 billion in 2022, up from €15.5 million the previous year.
The value of dairy exports was €6.8 billion, beef exports were €3 billion and sheepmeat, pigmeat and poultry exports were worth €1.7 billion.
86% of 75,000 consignments of live animals and products were inspected by department border-inspection posts.
The value of primary agriculture production at producer prices rose from €9.6 million in 2021 to just over €12 million last year.
Data was not yet available on the family farm income (FFI) in disadvantaged areas; in 2021 that figure stood at €31,325, up from €26,407 in 2020.