Mr. Colm O'Donnell:

Generational renewal is massively important going forward. It has been clear for some time that land mobility and having access to land is a major problem in this country. I mention the way we farm these areas in parts of rural Ireland where there is a successor. The retiring family needs some source of income in order to hand over the land where there is an heir within the family model. I benefited when our family was being reared. My father and mother handed the place over to me at a time when they could benefit from the early farm retirement scheme that was in place then and that brought them up to the old age pension rate.

We have incentives in place, such as the young farmers scheme and possibly TAMS, for young farmers but we must also look at the other side and enabling the retiring farmer to retire with dignity. When my father handed the farm over to me, he could not help me. It was part of the terms and conditions of the scheme and if he was found standing in a gap, he would lose his payment. This was ridiculous and is something we should learn from. The amount of acquired knowledge that my father was in a position to hand over to me should be something that is nurtured and incentivised in any succession model. That is what we are looking for. The Government and Department should look, on a limited basis, at the instances where there is a successor to continue that tradition of farm family succession.

The second point was on the Natura payment. We were referring to the need to ensure there is an action for designated land in an environmental scheme in Pillar 2. Also, there is potentially a need for this as an incentive and an entry level requirement in the eco-scheme for farms with designated land that have additional costs, State-enforced costs and 38 notifiable actions with which they have to comply. Those farms are carrying the burden for this State on the 14% of land that is designated. That is a small number of farmers and we have the ability, in this CAP reform, to support them and ensure the lands with the highest biodiversity in Europe are looked after.