Dr. Shane Whelan:

To add to what the president just suggested, ultimately, whatever arrives, the rate will depend on the Government, the national approach and priorities. Many of the proposals in the commission on taxation report to some extent, from a farmer and a small business perspective, adds additional costs of production in terms of the revenue generation activity. The committee might also look at whether tax incentives could be provided to increase economic activity and, as a result, increase the revenue take. Ultimately, irrespective of what is proposed, it is imperative, as the president said, that particularly in low-income sectors, as in the case of farmers, a thorough economic impact assessment is done fundamentally.

As the president and I said, from a farmer perspective, there is a significant multiplier effect and, therefore, any kind of supports that could be implemented to promote and support on-farm activity would yield dividends, particularly in the broader rural economy, as has been evident in the trajectory of agrifood exports. There has been a significant trajectory there. If we take a rolling average from 2010 to 2020, the value of agricultural exports has increased 54%, yet farmers have not realised the same benefit; it has only gone up 6%. The benefit in terms of significant investment and having the infrastructure and supports there is yielding dividend broader than purely farm income.