Agriculture Schemes

I want to raise the issue of generational renewal and, specifically, the need for a farm succession scheme. We have been talking about the age profile of Irish farming for many years but the figures tell us that we simply have not shifted the dial. Only around 4.3% of Irish farm holders are under the age of 35 while almost 38% are over 65. This should be a concern to all of us who want to see the future of the farm family succeed. Macra na Feirme, which represents more than 16,000 young farmers and young rural people throughout the country, has consistently highlighted this issue. Its straightforward message is that young people want to farm but access to land, finance and timely succession can remain a major barrier. In the past we have tried different approaches. We had installation aid for young farmers and we had the early retirement scheme. More recently we introduced farm succession partnerships, which provide a tax credit of up to €25,000 over five years. We have other supports, such as the young farmer scheme, complementary income support for young farmers, the national reserve and enhanced TAMS. In the past few years we have had the succession planning advice grant, which came in during Deputy McConalogue's time as Minister for agriculture. These are all valuable supports but the age profiles tell us they have not been enough collectively. The commission on generational renewal has given us a substantial body of work and 31 recommendations. Among the proposals are the establishment of a €25,000 payment to establish a young farmer and a generational renewal payment of up to €25,000 for an older farmer transferring the farm. I appreciate that a comprehensive farm succession scheme may not be achievable in this budget but could a commitment be given that we will now design a proper farm succession scheme? We can learn from the shortcomings of the other retirement schemes and establish a clear pathway towards implementation. Ultimately the incentive has to be strong enough to encourage succession not when a farmer reaches 75 or 80 years of age but when the next generation is young enough to invest, develop the family farm and build a future on it.

I thank Deputy Dolan for raising this very important issue and for his advocacy on behalf of the agricultural sector and young farmers in particular. The challenge of generational renewal in farming is widely recognised at national and EU levels. The programme for Government prioritises supporting intergenerational farm succession. Food Vision 2030, our shared strategy for the agrifood sector, states that generational renewal in farming is critically important to ensure the future viability and social sustainability of the Irish agrifood sector and of rural Ireland. This is a clear and fundamental point on which we all agree. There are a number of supports for generational renewal available to farmers under Ireland’s CAP strategic plan, which runs until 2027. These supports are complemented by a suite of strong national taxation measures, access to finance supports, and advisory, education and training supports. It is important that we have skilled, innovative young farmers coming into the sector to secure a viable and sustainable future for farming in the country. We recognise the need to consider whether existing supports are having the desired effect and how supports might best be configured for the future. Of course farm succession is a complex issue and there are many factors that impact farmers' decisions. This is why the Commission on Generational Renewal in Farming was established towards the end of my term as Minister. The commission adopted an objective, evidence-based approach to examining all the factors involved and engaged closely with stakeholders. It produced a thorough analysis and made 31 recommendations across a wide range of areas, including CAP supports, pensions, taxation, access to finance, access to land, collaborative arrangements, advisory services, education and training, gender balance and the overall attractiveness of the sector. This work will ensure that Ireland has a well-researched basis to make optimal use of the policy tools available to encourage young people, who are the lifeblood of farming, into the sector. It ensures we have a comprehensive, well-considered foundation for future policy on generational renewal. An implementation group in the Department of agriculture has considered the recommendations and progress is being monitored on an ongoing basis. Some of the recommendations may be commenced in the short term but some will be more medium term. The current CAP is fully programmed. Recommendations around CAP supports will have to be considered in the context of the next round, post 2027. This is a point Deputy Dolan made in his contribution. Some recommendations on taxation have already been implemented and more are being examined in the context of the next budget. In relation to access to finance, we have to work with the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland and liaise with finance providers on the funding requirements of young farmers. The Minister for agriculture is consulting the Minister for Social Protection on the recommendations around pensions. Discussions with Teagasc are ongoing regarding education and training and advisory services recommendations. The gender balance recommendation is being progressed through the Department's women in agriculture initiatives. The EU Vision for Agriculture and Food identified generational renewal as a priority and this has been reflected in the proposals for a post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy. I know that is the key focus of Deputy Dolan in terms of wanting to make real progress here. The European Commission has also presented its strategy for generational renewal in agriculture. The increased focus on generational renewal at EU level is, of course, welcome and the EU strategy comes to many of the same conclusions as our own commission. Regarding any formal farm succession scheme, the Department and the Minister are engaging with the ten recommendations in the report around CAP supports. These will need to be considered in the context of the new round post 2027, including the new CAP regulation and the new budget, and in stakeholder consultations. However, generational renewal should not only be looked at through the lens of CAP supports. It is clear that an holistic approach is required. As noted by the Commission on Generational Renewal in Farming, this is an issue for all agrifood stakeholders to address in order to support the environmental, social and economic sustainability of farming and enhance its image as a career.

What really shocked me when I met Macra na Feirme was seeing that the numbers backed up what we were seeing on the ground. It really is important that we encourage young people to stick with the family farm. Part of that is that they need to see a future in it so that they know they will be able to take it over and invest in it for the future. What I am proposing here cannot simply be viewed as a retirement scheme for older farmers. It must be designed as a succession scheme for the entire farm family. I thank the Minister of State for the work he did in setting up that commission on generational renewal, because that was important. To have objective, evidence-based recommendations now allows the Department a chance to chart a pathway forward. I want to see that pathway coming. It is important to recognise that an older farmer cannot be made to feel that the State is effectively telling them to stop farming. Farming is their livelihood, but it is also their identity, their home and often a place where they have worked for generations. At the same time, we cannot have a situation where a son or daughter is seeking to take over the family farm, but they might be 35, 40 or 45 years old before they get the opportunity to take real control of the farm business. This is why I believe the commission's approach is worth pursuing. Both sides of the transfer should be provided. Meaningful establishment capital must be provided to the young farmer taking over and financial security must be provided to the farmer transferring the holding. In principle, we already recognise this by virtue of that tax credit of €25,000 over the course of five years, but we need to go further. We should remember what happens when succession occurs earlier. A young farmer has a longer investment horizon. They can borrow and invest, improve the family holding and adopt new technology and everything that goes with it. I understand that this might not be possible in this year's budget, but it is something the Government should pursue and look at further.

I thank Deputy Dolan again for taking up the mantle in relation to this important issue, and for trying to drive it on and achieve real progress. It is a crucial issue for maximising the potential of Irish agriculture and food production on this island, and it will be driven by young people coming into the sector. That is why I set up the commission for generational renewal just about two years ago. The good work done by the many good people who were on that commission, under the chairpersonship of Aidan O'Driscoll, was foundational and important in distilling what the challenges were around generational renewal and in putting in place that evidential and policy platform to consider how we can best go forward in attracting young people into agriculture. Many supports are already available, and we all acknowledge they need to be built on. The supports currently in place amounted to €428 million in 2024, which is significant, but we need to build on that further. I will quote Aidan O'Driscoll, who was the chair of the commission on generational renewal, in terms of his key perspective on the report and the issue. He said: Ultimately, the really important decisions on this issue will be made around the kitchen tables in farmhouses throughout this country. The rather sterile term “generational renewal” translates on the ground into intensely personal and family decisions, which many farm families find difficult. This crucial context is also reflected in this report and addressed in our recommendations. Those are important matters to consider as well, but the key bottom line is that agriculture has to be a sustainable livelihood for people. It is a really exciting time for Irish agriculture and so many wonderful things are happening in it in terms of the sustainability journey and that great capacity through new learning and technology and new ways of working with the environment to be really productive from a food-producing point of view, while at the same time nurturing and protecting the environment around us. That can only be driven forward by young people, and I thank Deputy Dolan for the work he is doing in seeking to drive it forward and deliver the tools and supports within the next CAP, which will see more and more young people take up that career.