Mr. John Keane:

I thank the Deputy. Yes, there are a number of countries with various instruments and schemes. They are not all solely confined to the CAP. There are taxation measures within their national envelop that provide for it, whether that be, as I mentioned earlier, early retirement schemes, or early transfer of land and favourable conditions for that within their national taxation systems, or identification of a successor at the mid-50 mark so that somebody is there to take over the farm when those people reach retirement age. In the context of CAP, we have seen increased supports exist in other EU member states with respect to installation aid or start-up aid. We have seen higher levels of support in terms of investment support. We have also seen the use in other EU states of that critical issue of access to credit. Other member states operate specific targeted financial instruments aimed at supporting young farmers, in particular. Within our own context of the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, SBCI, and other loan schemes for farmers in general, naturally enough, we see that when those are put out through pillar banks and other institutions, the lowest risk option will be selected. If you compare a young farmer who might have limited collateral, a limited track record or limited security versus the person who has 20 or 30 years' experience in an industry or business, has a more secure backing, some collateral and a proven track record, naturally enough, when there is a limited pot of money, they are going to move towards the latter. That is why that specific element of the financial support, which we have seen working in other countries and jurisdictions, addresses that key need. It is something we need in this country for young farmers, in particular.