Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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If this is done right, the beef industry could also grow and develop. I thank the Irish Farm Managers' Association for its presentation. Owing to developments during the so-called boom years after 2000, the association found it difficult to retain an active core membership, partly because some people came to view farming as a sunset industry.

I should declare an interest in that I am a product or survivor of the farm apprenticeship scheme and Mr. Moyles was my mentor. He and the three other gentlemen from the association possess a wealth of knowledge, having developed a business from a base in which they did not own land. Moreover, they did so in an era that coincided with the introduction of quotas.

The delegation has made a number of proposals on taxation, partnerships, cohabitation of herds and milking that the joint committee has not heard previously. Deputy Ó Cuív should note that the farm apprenticeship scheme was a training scheme for doers. In the late 1980s, an advanced course with a diploma in farm management was developed which required participants to have technical skills. For example, if one could not grow three tonnes of wheat or produce a certain number of litres of milk, it was pointless participating in the course. It also developed business strategy and thinking among students who benefited almost as much from listening to each other as they did from listening to their lecturers.

The Irish Farm Managers Association possesses a large well of knowledge that has not yet been tapped. We hear from Macra na Feirme and other organisations. The IFMA represents the operators of farm businesses and we need as many such operators as possible. Members will note that the word "USE" is in upper case in the presentation. The definitions in the Common Agricultural Policy of "farm activity" and "active farmer" must be addressed.

We have said this before as we develop our paper on the description and what that requires. Land stocking rates is one and usage is a huge issue specifically because such a huge concentration of land is rented on the short-term conacre system. The farmer status is an issue we were not as aware of from the point of view of the implications for long-term leasing. These are all issues that should be raised.

On the issue of data and statistics it has been stated that it is expected that 4.5 million farmers will retire in ten years to 2022 in the EU. Of a total of 13 million farmers in the entire European Union, only 7% are under the age of 35. The Commissioner has a keen interest in changing that statistic. For the purposes of our Presidency of the EU in March when we hold a meeting of the chairs of the committees across member states we are doing a session on land mobility and access to land for young farmers. I may have a chat with the gentlemen afterwards about suggestions for input into that meeting because it is important to hear it from the perspective of people who have lived through the attempt in quotas with a restrictive tax and fairly restrictive disease control schemes to allow those who want to develop farming as their business. No more than any other skill, whether one becomes an accountant, a mechanic or a tradesman, one has to start. Land access and the capital cost of land should not be a restrictive barrier to allowing professionals in to run the farm.

Commissioner Cioloş's key objective in setting out his stall for the new CAP regime was that Europe would produce as much food as possible and do so sustainably. From that point of view we need qualified professionals in the business.

I thank Mr. John Fitzgerald and his colleagues for the presentation. It was useful from the point of view of the committee. We will be preparing another position paper on CAP. There are issues in regard to the Departments of Finance and Agriculture, Food and the Marine that we should pursue further.