Vol. 436 No. 7
67 Mr. J. Fox asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if, in the interest of stemming the tide of young people leaving the land, he will consider improvements to young farmers installation aid, in line with Macra na Feirme's stated aims.
The Government is committed to measures aimed at increasing greater land mobility. To this end modifications have been introduced, over the past two years, in the Young Farmer Installation Aid Scheme, whereby leased land can be taken into account in assessing eligibility. I am continuing to review the scheme in the context of the next round of Structural Funds and hope to be able to announce further changes shortly.
I expect the European Commission to give formal approval very shortly to my proposals for the implementation of the EC early retirement scheme for farmers. My hope at this stage is to have the scheme in operation early in the New Year. This scheme provides for the payment of a pension, of up to £8,780, at current rates, to farmers between 55 and 66 years of age who retire from farming and transfer their farms by sale, lease or gift to younger qualified transferees.
I believe that the early retirement scheme, in conjunction with the installation aid scheme should, overall, improve the opportunities for young farmers seeking to enter farming.
