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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 3 Apr 2003

Vol. 564 No. 3

Written Answers - Agenda 2000.

John Perry

Question:

29 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food his views on recent reports that 60,000 farms have no heir identified; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9089/03]

Michael Ring

Question:

51 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food his views on the way in which the proposed Fischler reforms will impact on young farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9087/03]

John Perry

Question:

52 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food his views on the way in which the Fischler proposals will impact on farmers seeking to enter the early retirement scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9088/03]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 29, 51 and 52 together.

The identification of an heir is a matter for individual farmers. My Department operates measures, including the farm retirement scheme and the installation aid scheme, to encourage the transfer of land. It is also the case that priority is given to young farmers across a range of different measures.

The Commission's proposals for the mid-term review of Agenda 2000 are currently being examined at official level by various committees in Brussels and will also continue to be discussed in the Council over the coming months. The outcome of the negotiations, or the impact of that outcome, on particular sections of the farming community, cannot be predicted at this stage. However, Ireland has pointed out potential difficulties with the proposals in so far as young farmers and farmers wishing to enter the early retirement scheme are concerned. The main difficulty for young farmers is in relation to the proposal to decouple direct payments and to establish a single farm payment to replace most of the existing CAP premia. Those entering farming for the first time after December 2000 may be at a disadvantage when compared with other farmers who were farming for all of the proposed three-year reference period, 2000-2002, for the establishment of entitlements for the proposed single decoupled payment. The same concerns about establishing entitlements arise in relation to the operation of the early retirement scheme, both for those farmers who have already retired and for those contemplating retirement.

The Council of Agriculture Ministers agreed in November 1997 on a vision of a European model of agriculture that would,inter alia, be capable of making a key contribution to the vitality of rural life, and it further agreed that the main objectives of the EU's rural development policy should include encouraging young farmers to enter farming. I believe that this has not been respected in the Commission's proposals for the mid-term review of Agenda 2000. I have indicated my over all opposition to the Commission's proposals in Council. My objective in the negotiations will be to preserve the benefits to Irish agriculture and to rural communities achieved under the Agenda 2000 agreement.
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