Dr. Ailish Byrne:

Going back to the young farmers seminars, I was at our third one this morning in Meath. We run them in conjunction with Broadmore Research and Consulting, which is doing focus group sessions with young farmers to understand the key challenges they face in getting set up in business. As a bank, we are going to try to embed some of those learnings into the offering we have for young farmers. We will also make the report available widely, including to Macra na Feirme and Teagasc, so that we can understand the key challenges, not just financial challenges facing young farmers. These challenges include relationships with older farmers and other family members as well, which is a key issue for young farmers.

Our central agriteam give a number of guest lectures in UCD and the Teagasc colleges.

Previously, we were sponsors of the Macra na Feirme national conference.

We give unsecured amounts for young trained farmers to get them started. Many young farmers come home to farm the family farm business. Sometimes they feel they are simply working there and cannot build up any business acumen themselves. We can give a small number of unsecured facilities to young farmers. Sometimes they take on or lease a block of land or carry out contract rearing of heifers for their fathers or other people. This allows them to build up a reputation with the bank and they can then rely on that when they look to expand the business in future.

We introduced the pasture loan last year because we recognised that grass-based systems are the most competitive in the world. It is available not only to the dairy sector but to all sectors involved in growing grass. It is loan over a five-year period for farmers to increase the fertility of their land. People can invest in phosphorous, potassium, lime, infrastructure, roadways and so on.

Senator Comiskey referred to land purchase. We will do up to 20 years on land purchase, including interest-only loans for two years. Again, this is a recognition that people may need to reseed land or fence it but the cash does not generate from that land for a period of up to 24 months.

Reference was made to switching. The majority of switchers we see are beef or suckler farmers switching to dairying. Typically, they sell the suckler herd and replace it with dairy cows. This would have been a plan for them for several years and they would have started to put the infrastructure and grass in place on their farms. Their big investment is in the milking parlour. That is the main equipment they do not have on the farm.

We have seen numerous people taking over leased lands or going into share-farming arrangements and other collaborative arrangements. We welcome these as ways of getting younger more active farmers involved in the sector.