Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The amendment I proposed is one I have felt strongly about since I came up here in 2016. I do not believe it is fair that the family farm is taken into consideration as part of the application for the fair deal scheme. It is not fair on the person taking over the farm and trying to run the business. That asset is a tool for gaining an income for the family but it is taken into the assessment while the family home is the only thing considered in every other scenario. I have no objection to the family home but I have a serious objection to the family farm being assessed. It could mean that the wife, son or daughter could be landed with a loan that eventually the person could not pay back and the person could eventually lose the farm. I do not believe it is fair at all.

I am sorry that this amendment has been ruled out of order. I believe what we are doing is undemocratic with the insistence that the farm is assessed. The rate of 7.5% each year for three years on a €500,000 farm could mean a sizable bill - a farmer would not have much of a farm at that.