Tom Barry (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for my late arrival. I thank our guests for attending. I read their submission briefly and many of the points made make sense. As I went through them, I was struck by one, in particular. The budget is under pressure and there will be cuts. However, we must be realistic, as every Department is in the same position. It would be good if we could tell our guests that everything would be fine, but it will not, as difficult decisions must be made. Trying to keep inside current budgets is not easy.

I cannot disagree with the comments made on many of the measures in question or the costs involved. The upper limit of €3 million on capital gains tax for people over 66 years of age has been mentioned. The age profile of farmers is unacceptably high and we need to try to reduce it aggressively. For some reason, it has been creeping upwards. Perhaps it has something to do with the Celtic tiger of a number of years ago, but we need to start reducing it. Installation aid, retirement schemes and so on would be welcome and were fabulous while they were in place, but there is no money for them currently.

The proposal on making stock relief available at a rate of 50% is not a bad one. The pension levy has been in place since the jobs initiative and is working well in terms of tourism. One hopes some of the benefits will accrue to rural communities. We cannot do much about electricity costs. As our guests know, the price of green diesel has increased from 45 cent three years ago to 83 cent or more. It is a dreadful cost that every farmer must deal with in some fashion.

The submission criticises the Croke Park agreement. However, criticising it is easy. I am from the farming sector, but the public sector has seen more than 30,000 redundancies and must still deliver more services. The agreement is working, but we are borrowing €1 billion a month and will go through tough times.

I do not see any in the document, but do our guests have suggested solutions to the problem of active versus inactive farming? Many of the document's contents are aspirational. I have asked everyone who has presented to us to recommend solutions. Map farming, whereby two people live off of a single acre, is unacceptable. The industry needs to tackle the issue. It makes no sense for an inactive farmer to sign the single farm payment form. It is virtually criminal taxation of the active farmer.

The fragmentation of land is another farming issue. Do our guests have opinions in this regard?

Committee members understand it will be a difficult budget. Applying fair cuts and achieving a balance are the real issues. We understand that, although this has been a dreadful year weatherwise, which most of us did not believe would be the case, farming is the one bright area. I would welcome our guests' comments on these points.