Organic farming will take centre stage at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food, and the Marine's meeting today (Tuesday, June 15).

The committee will meet with representatives from the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA), the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association (INHFA), the Irish Organic Association (IOA) and the Organic Growers of Ireland (OGI).

The meeting will be in two sessions:

Speaking in advance of the meeting, committee chairman Jackie Cahill said:

“The Organic Farming Scheme was implemented by the Department of Agriculture to encourage farmers to produce livestock and crop products according to European Union organic standards. And according to data, there was healthy uptake in the scheme.

Continuing, the cathaoirleach added:

“The committee welcomes a conversation around the organic sector, where Ireland is placed in the sector and if there are certain areas we should be looking at to make organic farming more sustainable and attractive to traditional frames such as awareness, training and education, policy changes and extra supports.”

The Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine has 14 members - nine from the Dáil and five from the Seanad.

Those interested can view the meeting in Committee Room 3 on the Oireachtas website.