Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If we want to raise taxes in order to provide better public services, somebody will have to pay tax at a higher level. I cannot avoid this. If we are not willing to make the argument for somebody somewhere paying more tax and, in turn, using that money to either improve public services or deal with economic risks, as mentioned by Deputy Pearse Doherty, it will be very difficult to make any change. When a decision is made to increase a tax, it means that somebody else will pay at a higher level.

That said, I will read into the record the reliefs that are in place. In many cases they have been developed by me in recognition of the pressures experienced, in particular by small farmers, and of the contribution that farming makes to our economy and society.

There is stamp duty consanguinity relief on non-residential farming property. This is available to the farming community. There is stamp duty exemption for certain family transfers. This is to ensure we have exemptions and reliefs in place for certain transfers of farm land from child to parent. There is stamp duty exemption on single farm payment entitlements. This is in place to recognise the value of certain transactions that take place. There is stamp duty relief for farm consolidations. That relief recognises that there are values in those transactions allowing farmers to pull together different plots of land.

Overall the agricultural and farming sector receives €800 million of tax relief, which is justified and recognises the contribution made. It shows the recognition that I have and the previous Government had of the value of Irish farming and the contribution it makes to towns and villages throughout the country.

I was asked if we have a heat map and if we track what is happening in different sectors of the economy. Yes, we do. That is published as part of the budget day documentation. Separately, the Fiscal Advisory Council produces its own assessment of risks. On budget day we produced that kind of heat map to identify different risks that might exist. As a result of our identifying trends in the pricing of commercial property, this tax rate has now moved from 2% to 7.5% to address risks I felt could develop. At the same time, we have also changed reliefs for farmers to offer a degree of support for them for all the reasons outlined by Deputies in this afternoon's debate.

Earlier in the year my Department produced a report on the scale of purchases under way by REITs, IREFs and larger entities to understand the effect on our economy; we debated that earlier today.

Deputy Naughten asked about removing the age threshold for the young trained farmer. If I were to do that it would no longer be a young trained farmer.