Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

One of the big constraints to expansion in dairying is the issue of getting the land near the milking parlour and the need to make it easy for farmers to swap land. I am given to understand there are a number of financial, fiscal and tax initiatives around such arrangements. Is the Department getting the full co-operation of the Department of Finance to ensure a tax system is in place that encourages farmers to swap land, in order that the fields are near the milking parlour with a view to expanding dairying in a sensible way, and so they do not end up paying capital gains tax? If I sell a field to Deputy Deering and he sells one to me, in order that we both have land nearer operations and do not have out farms, we do not want to end up paying capital gains tax.