Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

766. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the steps he will take to ensure that the appropriate payments such as area aid, BPS, GLAS and other agri-payments are immediately paid out to farmers (details supplied).; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58913/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

EU Regulations governing the administration of Basic Payment/Areas of Natural Constraint Schemes/GLAS require that full and comprehensive administrative checks, including in some cases remote sensing (e.g. satellite inspections), are completed before any payments issue. The 2021 application of the persons named was selected for a remote sensing eligibility inspection.

The application is currently being processed. The inspection results, along with any queries identified will be communicated to the applicants as soon as they are available. Any payments due to the applicant will issue as soon as this process is complete.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

767. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to engage with the land mobility service to incentivise young and potential farmers and new entrants to utilise the service in order to deliver generational renewal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58921/21]

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

768. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has plans to work with farming organisations to help spread awareness of the land mobility service which has been greatly affected in terms of awareness events during the Covid-19 pandemic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58922/21]

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

769. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if consideration will be given to his Department providing funding to the land mobility service in order that it can acquire the adequate resources needed to achieve optimum delivery for the desired service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58923/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 767 to 769, inclusive, together.

The challenge of generational renewal is widely recognised both at national and EU level with the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) citing it as one of its nine key objectives.

Food Vision 2030, the new strategy for the agri-food sector (gov.ie - Food Vision 2030 – A World Leader in Sustainable Food Systems) also highlights the challenge of generational renewal and proposes a number of actions to address this issue including the promotion of land mobility and succession planning.

We all agree that facilitating generational renewal is critical to ensure a bright future for the agri-food sector.

The Land Mobility Service (LMS) has proven itself important in the delivery of land mobility and access to land through assisting collaborative arrangements.

It has been supported by my Department over the last number of years with the Department providing funding of €27,000 between 2014 and 2016, and €50,000 per annum for the five years 2017 to 2021. To the end of 2019, over 520 arrangements covering approximately 19,000 hectares had been facilitated. In recognition of this, my Department is engaged with the Land Mobility Service on potential future support and I have just announced a 100% increase in the funding for next year to €100,000.

The Deputy may be aware that the Land Mobility Service also receives funding from the wider sector and a contribution from land-owners and farmers.

Notwithstanding the impact of COVID-19, “Inquiries, Engagements and Arrangements” continued to grow in 2020 with the cumulative figure in excess of 600 covering over 22,000 hectares, with a final Report on Outputs for 2021 due to be finalised shortly by LMS.

On generational renewal generally, under the current CAP the Young Farmers Scheme (with payments of €110m benefitting over 8,000 farmers each year) and the National Reserve (with €35 million allocated since 2015) provide financial support to young farmers during the crucial early years of setting up a farm enterprise.

Additionally, under the TAMS II Young Farmer Capital Investment Scheme, young farmers can avail of a 60% grant rate as compared to the standard rate of 40% (over €133m paid to over 5,000 farmers). There are additional supports at national level, with strong taxation measures assisting land mobility and facilitating succession (worth some €200 million per annum), access to finance measures and a range of educational, training and advisory services.

Specifically Long-Term Leasing Income Tax Relief has been an important driver of land mobility by providing access to land and security of tenure for younger farmers and a route to retirement for older farmers. Almost 11,000 beneficiaries were supported under this measure in 2018, with a cost of €27.2 million.

Supporting young farmers, access to land and generational renewal are priorities for me, and I will continue to actively engage on these issues, including with the Land Mobility Service, farm organisations and other stakeholders.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

770. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there are plans to introduce a new early retirement scheme for farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [58974/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The challenge of generational renewal is widely recognised at national and EU level, with the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) citing it as one of its nine key objectives.

I believe that supporting young farmers and facilitating generational renewal is critical to ensure a bright future for the agri-food sector. Obviously this also concerns older farmers and while there are a number of supports currently available under the CAP specifically for young farmers, these are complemented by a suite of national taxation measures that assist both younger and older farmers.

In recent years, the priority of my Department has shifted to the encouragement of generational change for farmers by assisting the development of our young farmers. There are a range of supports in place including specific agri-taxation measures to incentivise this generational change. The agri-taxation measures specifically aimed at young farmers include 100% stock relief on income tax for certain young trained farmers and stamp duty exemption on transfers of land to young trained farmers.

Under the current Rural Development Programme, there is also an enhanced capital investment Scheme for young trained farmers under the Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Schemes. This Scheme provides them with grant aid at a rate of 60% of the cost of the investment, compared to the standard grant rate of 40%, and I believe it is an important support and encouragement to young farmers starting in agriculture for the first time.

Generational renewal continues to be a priority of mine and it will form an important part of the CAP post-2020.

Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

771. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide a list of Irish recipients of European Union farm subsidies, including organisation names and amounts received listed in descending order by value for the period 2018 to 2021, in tabular form. [59103/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The EU Regulation 1306/2013, and in particular Articles 111 – 114, requires that Member States ensure the annual ex-post publication of all beneficiaries of CAP (Common Agriculture Policy) funding. In accordance with legislation, the information shall remain available on a single website for two years from the date of its initial publication.

EU Regulation No 908/2014 states that this information shall be published by 31st May each year for the preceding financial year and the information specific to Irish recipients were published on the Department’s website on Monday 31^stMay 2021. The information published can be located via the following link: www.gov.ie/en/service/common-agricultural-policy-beneficiary-data/

In accordance with the legislation, the information published relates to the years 2019 and 2020 only. The information regarding 2018 is no longer provided and information in relation to payments made in 2021 will be available on 31^stMay 2022.

The publication contains the following data:

- forename & surname or legal name of entity, as appropriate

- municipality where the beneficiary is resident

- payment amount by measure, and

- nature and description of the measure

It is possible to search/list beneficiaries under the criteria above. However, it should be noted that Member States are not required to publish beneficiary data where payments are less than €1,250 - these cases are identified by a code.

In addition, not all recipients are farmers as the CAP funds other programmes including LEADER and schemes open to other bodies including food companies.