Mr. John Joyce:

I wish the committee members a good afternoon. My name is John Joyce. I am chairman of the agriculture affairs committee of Macra na Feirme. I am also a full-time beef and sheep farmer in north Tipperary. I started farming with my father straight after agricultural college. I have availed of many of the reliefs and I know how important they are to young farmers. Without installation aid they are of even more importance.

In addition to what Mr. Jagoe outlined, another relief of concern is 100% stock relief, which is due to expire at the end of December 2012. This relief allows young farmers to offset an increase in the value of their stock against tax liability. We seek that it would be extended up until 2020, not just for one or two years, in order to further the objectives of Food Harvest 2020.

Partnerships are another investment initiative. The Department must remove any remaining obstacles to partnerships, including allowing just one disadvantaged area aid payment. Many other collaborative arrangements could be introduced to help land mobility and the transfer of farms to younger people. Macra na Feirme is a proactive organisation. In terms of the problems in agriculture, the elephant in the room is land mobility. Anyone involved in agriculture will see it that way. As a young person I invested heavily in my farm and I developed it as much as I could.

The biggest problem I envisage at present concerns land mobility and getting my hands on land to expand. This is the same for any other younger farmer.

While we can all talk about emigration and young people with no jobs, we must realise the agriculture colleges are full to the brim with young people who want to start off in farming. We have the land in Ireland to farm and produce food. It seems that nobody has dealt with this issue for years. As Mr. Jagoe stated, there are more farmers over 80 than there are under 35. We seek long-term land leasing and tax exemptions for those over 40. Initiatives such as the various supports for young farmers, including new entrants to the dairy quota scheme, are required. Macra na Feirme proposes a new low-end restructuring relief.

With regard to my business, land mobility is a key factor for anybody who wishes to increase farm size. Many young farmers' parents may not be old enough to retire. We do not want to push people off the land or to be seen as land grabbers. Macra na Feirme was one of the first organisations in the country to consider this issue and I hope it will be able to deal with this in the next few years. The problem does not arise this year alone; it will be a problem for years. We do not want farmers to vacate their farms but to retire from their farms with dignity. Many people refer to pensions and pension funds, but people have a pension in their own farm. There are many arrangements worldwide, from share farming to long-term leases, that we could adopt. I hope that between the two generations, we can move forward and work something out.