Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 4 December 2012

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Food Harvest 2020: Discussion with Irish Farm Managers Association

2:25 pm

Photo of Martin HeydonMartin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the delegation for the presentation, which was very interesting. I am broadly agreement with the points made on taxation policy.

I would be broadly in agreement with the need for relief on farm consolidations. This is key. The two overriding points that have been stressed by the delegates concern young farmers, the barriers to accessing land and how to get around those. The ability to consolidate holdings is crucial. Current stamp duty reliefs and other reliefs are crucial to that end. We have been doing significant work to try to maintain these reliefs at a time of great financial difficulty.

On a point Deputy Deering made on the education of young farmers, do the delegates believe more can be done to train farmers who cannot or do not go to agriculture college, for example, by the provision of on-site training for young farmers to take them up to manager level? I note the witnesses referred to the Teagasc professional diploma awarded by UCD which relates specifically to dairy farming. While I presume the focus of the delegates is on dairy farming, outside of that, how could that course be expanded, taking cognisance of the pressure agricultural colleges are under? I attended agriculture college, but I know it did not suit some of my neighbours to do so for one reason or another. How do the delegates view that?

On farm partnerships, does the membership of the Irish Farm Managers' Association consist entirely of managers or would a person who goes into a partnership with a farmer who owns the land and without that person owning the land also be deemed a manager? The delegates referred to the inability of a manager or non-partner to join the partnership arrangement. Will they expand on that? Have they strong views on partnerships expanding beyond the milk production partnerships? I believe we need to broaden that and give the same opportunity to farmers in the beef and other sectors.

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