Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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287. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the position regarding the reopening of the horticulture investment scheme; the amount of funding allocated; and the anticipated number of participants that will sign up. [17273/18]
Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I recognise the very severe impact that storm Emma has had on the Horticultural sector, in particular on soft fruit and amenity plant producers.
As an exceptional measure in response to the storm, Minister of State with responsibility for the Horticulture sector, Andrew Doyle, TD and I directed officials to re-open the 2018 Scheme of Investment Aid for the Development of the Commercial Horticulture Sector. This competitive grant aid scheme supports capital investments in specialised horticultural equipment and buildings that contribute to at least one of the scheme’s four objectives namely to: improve the quality of output, facilitate environmentally friendly practices, improve working conditions and promote diversification of production. The grant aid covers all areas of the horticultural industry; field vegetables, mushrooms, protected crops, nursery crops, soft fruit/apples, cut foliage, Christmas trees, bulbs and bee-keeping.
The re-opening of this scheme is targeted towards the soft fruit and amenity plant sectors in particular and approvals will be limited to growers that are proposing investments in response to damage caused by Storm Emma. This targeted measure will give these growers a window of opportunity to apply for grant aid to assist their business to recover from the effects of the storm. €0.5 million has been identified for this purpose.
I believe the ability of the Scheme of Investment Aid for the Development of the Commercial Horticulture Sector to react to evolving situations is a key strength in supporting Ireland’s highly dynamic horticulture sector. In 2017, just over €4.8 million was paid out supporting investment in excess of €12 million across the horticultural sector to include the soft fruit sector. The targeted re-opening of the Scheme is effective immediately, and the closing date for applications is Friday 27th April.
