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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 25 Jul 1996

Vol. 468 No. 4

Written Answers. - Small Farmers' Income.

John O'Leary

Question:

851 Mr. O'Leary asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry the steps, if any, he is taking to ensure that the small farmers of Ireland will receive a decent family income from their small holdings when the current phase of EU grant aid towards agriculture expires in 1999; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15287/96]

The current round of Structural Funds under the Community Support Framework for Ireland will operate until the end of 1999. While the Government is monitoring all aspects relating to Ireland's position as a beneficiary of Structural Funds after 1999, it would not be appropriate to speculate at this stage on what the likely outcome of the negotiations for the post-1999 period will be. Nonetheless, it can be taken that Ireland will continue to benefit from Structural Funds after 1999. The Government's strategy in the negotiations will be to secure the best deal for Ireland so as to enable us to maintain and build on our achievements to date. As in this Round, the aim, in relation to agriculture, will be to target the measures at the farmers most in need e.g. higher rates of grant for smaller farmers for capital investment. Following an independent evaluation, I am also examining the Compensatory Headage Payments Scheme to see how it can be better targeted at the smaller farmer.

I would also underline that since the 1992 CAP reform, the emphasis has moved from market support to direct payments to producers and these payments, which are additional to Structural Funds, are biased in favour of the small and medium sized farmer. For example, on cattle and sheep farms under 10 hectares, direct income support, including compensatory allowances under the Structural Funds, accounted for 58 per cent and 87 per cent, respectively, of family farm income in 1994. In addition to direct income support there is also a series of measures in place to tackle the underlying structural weaknesses that give rise to persistent low farm incomes in certain sectors of the agricultural economy. The range of measures include incentives to encourage land transfer under the Farm Retirement Scheme, one of the CAP Reform Accompanying Measures. The release of land to a younger generation of farmers is intended to increase farm size and in turn improve the efficiency and economic viability of existing smaller holdings.

The incidence of part time farming is particularly evident among small scale farmers which indicates that these farmers are augmenting on-farm incomes with off-farm jobs. This trend is likely to continue and it is in this context that I see rural development initiatives like LEADER as being increasingly important in the coming years.
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