2026-07-09

9. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to provide an update on measures to support farm succession. [51677/26]

Given that one of the greatest challenges for Irish farming continues to be the ageing demographic and the low percentage of young people who are involved, will the Minister provide an update on measures to support farm succession and generational renewal?

I thank Deputy Byrne for raising this critical issue. It is one of the key issues of our time as regards our agricultural and fisheries sectors and beyond. It is not specific to Ireland or even to Europe. In Ireland, we have the extra challenge that farm families put huge store in educating their children very well, and are aided by the State in doing so, and those children then graduate into an economy at full employment with a lot of alternative options. That is all positive. It is a bit like the challenges the rising price of beef brings. These are positive challenges to have, but they are still very real challenges. We are trying to win the hearts and minds of young people who are considering a career in agriculture and farming in what is a very competitive space. Farm succession is a key priority for the Government to ensure the long-term sustainability and competitiveness of Irish agriculture. A range of supports are in place to encourage timely succession, facilitate generational renewal and assist young farmers in establishing viable farm businesses. Ireland's CAP strategic plan for 2023 to 2027 provides substantial resources to achieving generational renewal. Measures include: the complementary income support for young farmers; the national reserve scheme, which prioritises young farmers; and a higher grant rate of 60% for qualified young farmers under the TAMS capital investment measure. A collaborative farming grant scheme provides financial support to encourage farmers to form partnerships with young trained farmers and the succession planning advice grant provides financial support towards the costs incurred in accessing independent legal and financial advice in respect of succession planning for older farmers. Nationally, there are very strong taxation measures to facilitate succession and assist with land mobility. For succession, agricultural relief is a key measure. Along with 100% stamp duty relief, consanguinity stamp duty relief and long-term leasing income tax relief, it supports access to land for young farmers and provides a route to retirement for older farmers. A number of taxation measures already exist. I can go into more detail in my supplementary response.

I welcome the Minister's personal commitment to succession and generational renewal. He is right to say it is not just an Irish issue. He will know about the commission on generational renewal. He has been very strong on its recommendations. Some of them apply to the next round of CAP. The Minister will have to work with his fellow Ministers and with Commissioner Hansen to achieve some of those goals. Others are domestic, however. The Minister is correct about access to land and finance. These are key measures to support succession. Commissioner Hansen has spoken about guaranteeing that all member states invest at least 6% of their agricultural spending on measures to promote generational renewal. The Commission's report talks about 8%. Will we see a significant package dedicated to succession and generational renewal developed as part of the next CAP and, most importantly, here domestically?

That is absolutely the intention. On the funding element, we obviously cannot make any commitments as to what the next CAP will look like for us here in Ireland until we know how much money we have to play with. However, the Deputy is right about Commissioner Hansen's ambitions. The EU's vision for agriculture and food identified generational renewal as a priority. This is reflected in the proposals for a post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy, as the Deputy outlined. The European Commission has also presented a strategy for generational renewal in agriculture. The increased focus on generational renewal at EU level is welcome. The EU strategy comes to many of the same conclusions as our own commission. The commission on generational renewal estimated that the total financial support for generational renewal in Ireland was €428 million in 2024. That is really significant. A lot of that goes unseen because it is provided through tax incentives. We have seen what happened in the UK when people just assumed tax incentives for the inheritance and transfer of land would always be there. When such measures are messed with, it absolutely devastates generational renewal. It can mean the loss or sale of land that a family member had intended to pass on to another family member. I never take this for granted. I know my party and the Deputy's party would never mess with these measures but people need to be aware of this because I am not as confident about what other parties would do.

I welcome that commitment. I certainly agree with the Minister. It is interesting that the European Commission's proposal aims for 24% of farmers to be new or young farmers by 2040. That is very ambitious. With regard to the strategies, we need to ensure that agriculture is sustainable. That is the kind of goal we need. I praise the work of Macra na Feirme. The Minister will be aware of how Macra operates in his own county. From regular engagements with Macra in Wicklow and Wexford, I know it is very active in this space. We need a succession scheme that supports young farmers and older farmers as that managerial role transitions from one generation to the next. There are some measures in place to do that. We need certainty and legally binding ring-fencing of funding for young farmers under the next CAP to support generational renewal. The Minister is right that there are broader issues in respect of education and guaranteed stable incomes, which are challenges for agriculture more generally. However, to attract young people to stay in or come into the career, these measures are critical.

I agree that the goals are ambitious. They need to be because we have a very big problem here. The average age of a farmer is 57 or 58. That is far too high. It is creating a whole range of challenges from farm safety to delayed innovation and investment and beyond. These wider issues are a nut we really need to crack. I recognise the role of Macra. I guarantee the Deputy that its president, Josephine O'Neill, is very good at articulating Macra's position and desire for a succession scheme. I really want to be able to deliver such a scheme. The commission on generational renewal summed it up very well. It talked about all the barriers, including access to finance, access to land, gender balance and women in agriculture. It said that ultimately, no matter what supports were available, decisions around succession on a farm will still be made around the kitchen table when the family has that discussion. We need to aid and support all of that. I do not believe any one succession grant scheme alone will be the key determinant in that very big decision for the retiring farmer and the young farmer. A lot of things feed into it. Income is obviously a huge issue. The work I am doing on bovine TB, on securing the nitrates derogation and on supporting the tillage sector will all help with generational renewal, as will the very strong measures we are looking for in the next CAP.