Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I was previously a member of the agricultural committee. The witness has addressed access and the green certificate, and moved on to the issue of redistribution, which took place under the last Common Agricultural Policy. This was intended to bring about a more balanced approach. It was a very contentious issue which saw a divide between the so-called productive farmer and more marginal farmers. We had to make sure we got it right.

That debate is probably more suited to an agriculture committee than here, but there is a balance involved. We have a burgeoning food and drink industry in this country, including the growth of distilleries and artisan food producers, so it is important to maintain the farmers who produce the required ingredients. Those are value-added jobs that can be accessed by returning emigrants.

The Minister, Deputy Coveney, held the agriculture portfolio when we had the EU Presidency which included a re-negotiation of the CAP. He led the way with a young farmers' measure that had never been in a previous CAP agreement. In fairness, that should be recognised.

Leasing was mentioned and the difficulty of clawing back costs. We have made a number of changes to long-term leasing in recent years. Up to now this has been a big issue for somebody coming home who wanted a farm but did not have access to land. We work on a conacre system which is a disaster for young or mature farmers who want to get into farming but do not have access to land.

One cannot plan for the future based on a year-on-year system. We have actively gone out of way to try to encourage long-term leasing, which is the right thing to do. That is particularly so for someone who comes back but may only have a small piece of land and needs to expand to reach the necessary economies of scale. The long-term leasing measure is really worthwhile because it allows supports for a farmer leasing land, as well as allowing such a person to plan over a five or six-year period.

Ultimately, each EU member state must have its own set of rules which have to be approved in terms of how they plan to redistribute. The green certificate is a fair way of doing it. Anyone who takes the time to do such training is showing a real commitment. If we did not have that system here - leaving aside returning emigrants for a minute - somebody who inherits a farm but may be working in a financial services job in Dublin could get access to all the supports. They would be an armchair farmer rather than an active one, which would not be fair. We must be careful that in trying to look after one cohort we do not make the system unfit for purpose. My view is that the green certificate is the right way to go. We need to work on improving access to it for returning emigrants.