Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has committed to further engagement with the banks on providing flexibility to farmers affected by market volatility.

The Minister met with An Taoiseach Enda Kenny this week to discuss the Government’s key agriculture priorities.

It is understood the pair agreed to prioritise measures to deal with market volatility in the agricultural sector in particular pursuing a number of initiatives at an EU level.

The Department of Agriculture is at present commissioning an ex ante appraisal to examine the merits of including a provision for financial instruments in its Rural Development Programme. It is understood the measure would be in the form of loans or guarantees in the case (remunerated in the form of an interest payment)

Minister Creed also committed to prioritising the development of a new sheep scheme with a budget of €25 million. Consultation will begin immediately with the aim of introducing such a scheme in Budget 2017.

The Taoiseach and the Minister also agreed to prioritise access to new markets, with planning in progress for Trade Missions to Asia.

The Forestry Programme was also discussed at the meeting which was also attended by the new Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Andrew Doyle. with

Doyle who has responsibility for forestry committed to year on year increases in new forestry cover up to 8,290 ha by 2020.

It is hoped that this will help Ireland tackle climate change in addition to providing new investment opportunities for rural Ireland.

The Minister and the Taoiseach also reaffirmed their commitment to the Food Wise 2025 strategy to expand the Irish agricultural sector, in addition to the Harnessing our Ocean Wealth Strategy and the roll out of the Seafood Development Programme.

The programme for Government outlined a host of policy initiatives for the agriculture sector.