asked the Minister for Finance if, in view of the fact that farmers have to sell sites on their land in order to re-imburse in part credit lending agencies, oftentimes within the terms of a rescue package formulated in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture, he has any proposals or has received submissions from farming organisations to exclude such transactions from the provision of capital gains taxation; and if he will indicate his views on this matter when a cash gain is not involved.
Written Answers. - Farmers' Financial Transactions.
583.
I am not aware of any submission from the farming organisations in relation to this matter. However, together with the Minister for Agriculture I met representatives of the IFA/ICMSA on 15 April last. Among the matters raised by the farming organisations on that occasion was the question of exempting sales of land for building sites, particularly in cases where the vendor was a farmer who was eligible for participation in the recently announced rescue scheme for farmers in severe financial difficulty. I indicated at this meeting that this matter would be considered in the context of the forthcoming Finance Bill.