Written Answers. - Early Retirement Scheme.
Brendan Howlin
Ceist:
53
Mr. Howlin
asked the
Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development
the progress being made with regard to the commitment given in the review of An Action Programme for the Millennium to facilitate the development of viable farm holdings through the encouragement of land mobility and early inheritance; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[28439/00]
The commitment referred to is being addressed by two schemes – the scheme of early retirement from farming and the scheme of installation aid for young farmers 2000-06.
Applications under the scheme of early retirement from farming closed with effect from 31 December 1999. The purpose of this scheme was to address two structural defects in Irish agriculture, the age profile of farmers and the viability of farm holdings. It offered pensions to farmers, aged between 55 and 66 years, who either transferred or leased their farms to young farmers. A measure of the scheme's success is that 10,000 farmers retired, releasing 300,000 hectares of land to younger farmers whose average age was 31 years. This brought forward the retirement age of farmers by an average of six years. The scheme also contributed to the increase in average farm size, as the young farmer availing of the scheme was required to enlarge the released lands by five hectares, or by 10%, whichever was the greater.
A new scheme of early retirement came into operation on 27 November as part of my Department's rural development plan. This new scheme will run until the end of 2006 and will cost in the region of £600 million. About 7,000 farmers are expected to avail of the opportunity to retire early joining the 10,000 farmers who have already retired under the old scheme. An important feature of the new scheme is the introduction of viability criteria which will allow part-time farmers who satisfy various conditions to avail of the scheme.
I believe it is fair to say that the early retirement from farming scheme has proven very successful. Not alone did it provide an opportunity for the older farmers to retire but it also contributed to the development of viable farm holdings. The new scheme will build on the achievements of the old scheme and will make a significant contribution towards meeting the commitment referred to by the Deputy.
The new scheme of installation aid for young farmers is complementary to the scheme of early retirement. Its aim is to encourage young people to take up farming and to help to defray their start up costs. This scheme forms part of the regional operational programmes and is expected to be operational early next year. While a total of 7,957 farms have availed of installation schemes up to now, it is expected that an additional 4,000 will avail of the new scheme for which £29.8 million has been allocated.
