Mr. John Keane:

On the Deputy's question about what has been done for young farmers in the context of CAP, the honest answer is that there has been very limited improvement. The same measures have been in place since 2014. We are proposing to keep those measures for the five years to 2027 and we are expecting a different outcome. Einstein had a good summation of what that will achieve by the end of 2027. We are the only member state not to go for installation aid. To be fair, at the Council of Ministers our Minister pushed for 4% to be the minimum threshold for young farmers in order to provide some flexibility under pillar 1 payments. He came back and delivered 3% in our CAP strategic plan. We welcome the higher rate of payment in the young farmer scheme, but, overall, in terms of getting more young people into the sector, very little extra was provided in the budget.

I will ask Dr. Hanrahan to give an overview about the retirement scheme.