Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

At the outset, I should have wished Mr. Cardiff well. I thank him for his service as the country's nominee after the past six years. I also wish Mr. Murphy well on his appointment.

On the report, I note the auditors' report finds that the objectives are not working and that the funding is not achieving its objective. Did they go into any detail to establish why that is? It may not be in their remit. I do not think they did but I seek to ascertain whether they did in any way try to establish that.

Also, in terms of those who are leaving, I note that there are almost 4 million farmers who have left overall in eight years. What is the dynamic behind that? What categories do those farmers fall into? Did they delve into that and can they enlighten us in that regard?

I echo what a couple of previous speakers stated on the importance of trying to sustain the family farm model here in the country. I reiterate the forgotten farmer issue that has been well made here, and how that is something we need to address and ensure that the Commission addresses in the next round, where a farmer, regardless of age, but who could be 25, who has been farming for more than five years is excluded and is not regarded as a young farmer. Although it is clear that there is consolidation of farming units, it is crucial that we do not have a CAP policy that unfairly accentuates that and does not allow farmers the choice to stay in agriculture because the young farmers' scheme, for example, excludes them even though they may only be in their late 20s but have been farming for more than five years.

They are left in a position where farming is not an option. The Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, leaves them in that position. Incentivising older farmers to transfer, whether to their own family or to neighbouring small farmers, is crucial. There is an emphasis on that too. There needs to be an appetite to ensure that they are passing the land on and that policy facilitates them to do that rather than retaining it. Older farmers will generally have small farms because if one has 30 acres and is 70 years of age, one might be able to manage it, but if one has 150 acres and is 70 years of age, one will not be holding on to it because it simply would not be possible. Holding on to those units may mean that somebody next door who has 50 acres and needs 30 more cannot make his or her farm more sustainable because policy does not facilitate the transfer in timely fashion. The graph of those under 30, under 45 and up to 65 shows that 20% of farmers are under the age of 45. Taking a starting working age of 20, that represents 25 years of working life. Only 20% of farmers are in that category. The largest category is those who are of pension age. It is inverted. There are fewer younger people and more older people in the industry to the extent that pensioners are the biggest sector. Policy needs to try to turn that around.