Mr. John Keane:

There are a few elements to the matter Deputy Kehoe raised, which probably ties into Senator Daly's earlier questions on the CSP. We outlined a number of things we are looking for from this round. As mentioned, these include the ring-fencing of 4% under Pillar 1 payments, inclusion of the young farmer top-up under that, a fully-funded national reserve so we can ensure it is fully funded for the entirety of the period of the CAP and, finally, that this is fully ring-fenced for young farmers. As I noted, we have heard at European level that the inclusion of other interventions under this scheme cannot be included in the pot of funds set aside for young farmers. It can all be aligned to the ambition of organics and the other schemes that are available but cannot come from the pot of funds allocated to young farmers.

On the Pillar 2 payments, the previous early retirement scheme has cropped up a number of times. We have submitted a detailed succession scheme to the Department setting out what we see as a collaborative and partnership model that will deliver succession to both the older and younger generations and would be funded under Pillar 2.

Key elements include that it is delivered within the time period of this CAP, that it is funded from Pillar 2 payments, that the entirely of the land is transferred before the end of the CAP period and that it is a collaborative model. Under the previous early retirement scheme, we saw older farmers penalised. They could not go outside the front door for fear of their payments being removed.

In addition, in terms of delivering for young farmers, the development of the start-up grant scheme has been mentioned at Commissioner level in terms of installation aid which is being used by all bar six member states, including Ireland, under the CAP. It has been shown to be quite a successful measure in other member states. We see it as having a number of parts, including grant aid for the start-up of business. Businesses in other sectors on the island of Ireland have this and we do not see why it should not be applied to young farmers. As part of this, and it links back to one of our earlier proposals, there should be a continuing professional development framework and credit lines for young farmers to access training and development.

Access to land and credit have been mentioned as major barriers to young farmers entering farming and establishing their enterprises. What we see as key issues include the roll-out of financial instruments under Pillar 2 payments to encourage access to land and credit, and making finance available at competitive and favourable rates for young farmers to allow them to compete. If I might be allowed, we have mentioned our Land Mobility Service. It has been called out by the Commission. I might ask our CEO, Mr. Duggan, to briefly discuss it.