Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the representatives of Macra na Feirme and I wish to be associated with the good wishes to Mr. Duffy. It is always a pleasure to work with him. I also wish Mr. Keane the best in his forthcoming term of office.

I wish to elaborate a little on a couple of matters. We will all lobby for, and hopefully we will be successful in, getting the extension to the current stamp duty laws. While they are vital, they are not cash in hand. They are a net saving. I refer to where Macra na Feirme would like to see more capital expenditure funding coming on stream. We are very much aware of building costs. There is the percentage of funding that is available in TAMS, the capping of expenditure that is allowable to receive TAMS funding and a combination of the percentages that are available to young and older farmers. Will Mr. Duffy elaborate on that with regard to investment?

Moving on to the partnership company model, while it is a great model and works well in certain areas of the country, there is an element of partnership which will most likely require the enterprise to be in a position to support two families. This is not feasible everywhere. I am a Westmeath man and the further north one goes, the smaller are the holdings and enterprises. While it might work on a large dairy set-up in the south or elsewhere, where there is a steady cash flow, it is not a runner in the majority of cases further north and west in the country. What is the alternative to that? What consideration has Macra na Feirme given to, what lobbying has it done for or how would it look on something similar to the old retirement scheme? If the current farming generation was prepared to step aside to avoid the situation I mentioned where two incomes would be required from the holding, would Macra na Feirme welcome, or what is its opinion on, something similar to the old retirement scheme?

I will conclude on the land mobility scheme that Macra na Feirme piloted or introduced.

I know Macra is lobbying to get this included under the CAP and to get European support. How is it going down in Europe? How is the model being accepted there? What feedback has the organisation had from Europe on the scheme? Is it something that could be included in the European model?