Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 12 Nov 2002

Vol. 557 No. 1

Written Answers. - Land Purchase.

David Stanton

Question:

106 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the reports that speculators and others are purchasing agricultural land and paying very high prices thus making it difficult for genuine farmers to purchase land exclusively for agricultural purposes to compete; if his attention has been further drawn to the fact that this activity is artificially increasing the value of land thus raising the stamp duty on transfer of land and buildings between close relatives over the age of 35; his plans to rectify the situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21073/02]

Minister for Finance (Mr. McCreevy)

There is no information available as to the precise occupation of individual purchasers of agricultural land. The Central Statistics Office, in its most recent release on land sales, indicated that the average price paid per hectare of agricultural land increased by 16.6% between the first quarter of 2001 and the first quarter of 2002. However, the Central Statistics Office has also advised in its release that in any interpretation of figures in relation to price rises in agricultural land allowance should be made for the fact that only a small amount of agricultural land is sold on the open market each year. In the period covered by the latest release, the year 2001, only 0.2% of the area farmed nationally in 1999 was sold on the open market. On the available evidence it is not clear that the value of land is being artificially increased given that it is an open market situation. The stamp duty on the transfer of land and buildings between close relatives is a concessionary rate and I have no plans to improve this concession.