A new funding package, worth €2.38 million, will guarantee “the short-term security and long-term viability” of horticulture and growers, a Fine Gael senator has said.
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue and Minister of State, Pippa Hackett announced the support package for the horticulture and tillage sectors earlier this week.
The horticulture subsectors included under this support package include: High-wire glasshouse grown tomatoes; peppers; cucumbers; brown mushrooms; field vegetables (excluding potatoes); field grown salad crops; energy reliant protected crops (heated strawberries and vertically grown greens); and apples.
Senator Regina Doherty said: “Over the past number of years I have consistently supported the Irish horticultural industry through what has been a very difficult time for the sector and have worked with my party colleague Minister [of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine] Martin Heydon on this.
“My own area of north County Dublin has an abundance of horticultural growers and it’s something we are very proud of, but many of them have questioned the very survival of their livelihoods in the absence of a ‘lifeline’ from government.
“I have been asking for a comprehensive package to follow the once-off Horticulture Exceptional Payment Scheme (HEPS), which, despite being a welcome measure at the time, did not go far enough,” she added.
“Back in March e.g., I asked for specific supports for our horticultural growers in the sectors most at risk, including commercial growers of mushrooms, field vegetables, apples, and high-wire crops.”
Horticulture support
For the horticulture sub-sectors, applications will open shortly for processing and payments will be made in January 2024.
Eligible applicants will be paid based on the number of hectares in production and in the case of mushrooms, growers will be paid on the weight (kg) of mushrooms sold.
Horticulture growers must have a turnover of €50,000 or more and a minimum of 3 hectares in production to be eligible to apply.
Senator Doherty continued: “Irish horticulture has a future. Government has published a National Horticulture Strategy to protect the long-term viability of the sector, and that has now been complemented by much needed and long-awaited financial supports for growers.
“Actions speak louder than words, and that’s why I am happy that payments will be made to eligible applicants as soon as January 2024.”