Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 February 2013
295. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding offering incentives and encouragement to young persons to take up farming, if he has any specific proposal for the type of person referred to; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7796/13]
View answerSince taking office I have been concerned by the poor age structure in Irish farming. Recent analysis shows that there are more farmers over 80 than under 35 in Ireland. I have been working to encourage more new entrants to take up farming as a career. Budget 2013 saw the extension of key reliefs that were already in place for young new entrants (such as the 100% relief from Stamp Duty and the 100% stock relief for Young Trained Farmers). Extending these reliefs is not straightforward given that there is a requirement for EU State Aid approval for such measures. The deputy will also be aware that changes were made to retirement relief in budget 2012 to encourage inter-generational land transfers.
The correspondence provided by the deputy suggests that course will not help the situation. I believe that education is fundamental to the future of farming. I am delighted that the number of applicants for Teagasc courses has greatly increased the last two years. Teagasc has responded well to this demand and have introduced new courses to cater for a variety of needs. For example Teagasc has recently launched a new Professional Diploma in Dairy Farm Management (Level 7) in association with University College Dublin (UCD). Teagasc have also developed recently a new Level 6 Specific Purpose Certificate in Farm Administration course to help meet the training requirements for full-time or part-time farmers.
Young people are essential to delivering the smart, green growth being sought under the food harvest strategy. It comes as no surprise to me that the young Entrepreneur of the year is a farmer and used his farming experience to create an innovative product that farmers worldwide are now using. I hope that other entrepreneurial young farmers will follow this example and develop Irish farming so that it becomes a model for others.
Measures to provide targeted support to young farmers are part of the current negotiations on the reform of the CAP and will I hope form part of any final agreement. I have strongly supported the proposal for a top-up for young farmers under pillar 1 of the CAP, and indeed Ireland was one of the first countries to suggest this measure in the negotiations.
I am also happy that the new restructuring relief has been announced in the 2013 budget. This is the result of detailed work which analysed the reasons why the old consolidation relief was not working. I am confident that the new relief in relation to Capital Gains Taxes, once State Aid approval has been received, will be more effective, especially given that Stamp Duty rates have been reduced. Re-structuring is essential for us to meet the Food Harvest 2020 targets. We need to use land more productively and encourage more young farmers to make the best use of the land. A recent EU Commission study found that
‘younger [farm] managers tend to perform better than the EU average, with 46% more area and 57% more economic potential for 21% more labour force’ [[1] Commission Staff Working Paper, Impact Assessment, CAP towards 2020, Annex 1: Situation and prospects for EU agriculture and rural areas , p. 25. Brussels, 12/10/2011.1].
Ireland has a very low level of land sales, with most land staying within the same family for generations. Only 0.4% of land changes hand in any given year. Young farmers that want to expand need to be able to access land. According to the latest census of agriculture the average farm has 3.8 land parcels. This means that our farmers are wasting time and diesel driving between plots of land, increasing the stress and the risk of accidents. Young farmers will now have an opportunity to consolidate their holdings and increase efficiency. I am hopeful therefore that the measures that I have introduced will encourage more young people into farming and address the age profile imbalance in Irish farming.
