Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for the presentation. It is very helpful and informative. I have some questions on the statistics. Is a young farmer defined as 45 years of age in the statistics in the report or what is the age for defining a young farmer? In Ireland it was traditionally defined as 35 years and later it moved to 40 years. A report issued in Ireland several years ago stated that there were more farmers over 80 years of age than under 35 years of age. I do not believe that statistic has changed. That is the imperative in this situation. The two big issues in Irish and European agriculture are age and what we do about carbon and climate issues. I am seeking clarification of the European definition of young farmers. Is it 35, 40 or 45 years of age?

The Chairman stated that the issue is not so much the young farmers coming into farming as the older farmers leaving.

Traditionally, we had a retirement scheme for farmers and it worked very well. It promoted the younger farmer coming in and the older farmer leaving the occupation. It operated between the ages of 55 and 65, if I recall correctly, and at the time there was a very good uptake. Should the Commission be looking at that and incentivising a project of that magnitude so we could have a generational change? As the figures demonstrate, it is the most important element required in European, if not Irish, agriculture.

This is a macro report and it considers the entire topic from a European level. Have the witnesses drilled into the small and minute details such as issues with Irish farming for young farmers, including the matter of "old" young farmers or gentlemen involved in partnership schemes who did not get installation aid or the top-up? Were those cohorts examined in the report and if they were, what were the results? If they were not examined, will those two very important cohorts be considered? They feel they have not been looked at appropriately by the current system. It is all about the age demographic. As the Chairman said, perhaps it is not about getting young people into farming, although that is very important. The infrastructure we have put in place in the past few years and through the agricultural colleges must be acknowledged in that respect. Perhaps we must act on the other end and we need a promotion to help the next generation to let go of the reins.