Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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That is an interesting submission. Perhaps Mr. Moyles can give me more information on the Irish Farm Managers' Association and whom it represents. Mr. Moyles emphasises access to land. The transfer of land must be examined. There is the fear factor among older farmers and the tax and legal factors mean it is a multifaceted challenge. I am interested in the recipe proposed to overcome difficulties. There are a number of specific goals in Mr. Moyles' presentation. Training is important but it is more useful if one is doing the job. For example, if someone gives me a new phone, I will mess with it for half an hour before I look at the instruction manual. If I look at the instruction manual first, I will never figure it out. Training really pays off when one is working on the job because one understands in practical terms where the difficulties lie.

On partnership, Mr. Moyles said there should not be joint and several liability for partnership debts. In other partnerships, such as accountancy firms or solicitors' firms, there is liability for the totality of the partnership. That is how it works. Perhaps Mr. Moyles can outline why it should be different in this case. He also referred to the difficulty with a manager or other non-partner joining the partnership arrangement. Are these difficulties legal or practical? Changes that do not cost the State money are very attractive. If there are regulatory barriers, it is important that we examine them. There is a major debate about the single farm payment at the moment. The more one looks at it, the more we see it has effects that have nothing to do with farming but have a huge effect on farming. People have entitlements they are not using or they are not using land to its capacity. As part of the debate on the single farm payment, we need to look at the changes that need to take place within the single farm payment to encourage the use of all land in a productive way. We must also make sure the user of the land, as opposed to the owner, gets a fair return for effort. Perhaps the witnesses can expand on that point because we need to ensure the land of the country is properly used.

I have my reservations because of the historic nature of the single farm payment. It was suggested that 2011 could be the reference year and I am interested in that because any year forward causes huge distortion, although year back will also cause problems in how the single farm payment is allocated. We must avoid distortions and I am interested in hearing how the allocation would take place. If we start with 2011 and say that is the new base year, will it be done on the same basis as before or will the money be allocated differently?

On legal and taxation policy, a number of specific taxation policies were mentioned. We need a comprehensive package of taxation measures. Some measures have been outlined, and I asked about the effect they are having. It is important that we find out whether the taxation measures have done what they were meant to do. I am not sure that is happening, judging by the evidence.

Are there legal issues and legal cost barriers to making land available? Short-term and long-term leasing are major issues. We seem to favour very short-term leasing in this country. It is fine to promote something but it does not always work. Those of us who are old enough can remember the famous Guinness Light, which was promoted and promoted but did not sell. Promoting a thing without the people on the ground believing it is attractive tends not to achieve results. Are there any concrete steps we could take to ensure longer leasing and more certainty for people?

I thank the delegation for coming in and making the submission, which was concise and straight to the point.