Michelle Mulherin (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would like to speak about the issue of land mobility, which is a precursor to discussions on payments and our targets under Harvest 2020. In years gone by, I attended many auctions in counties Mayo and Sligo in my capacity as a young solicitor. I encountered a well-established auctioneer who followed a particular routine and ritual at the beginning of every auction. When he was selling land, he used to say he was selling a commodity that God was not making any more of. It might seem obvious that no more land is being produced, especially in this part of the world where we do not have to deal with volcanos and plate tectonics, thankfully, but it remains a fact that land is a finite quantity. Young farmers need land if they are to farm.

The passing on of land is vital for young people who have the ideas, education and enthusiasm to enter into farming and thereby ensure the industry continues to be driven on. The growth of this sector is crucial if we are to achieve our Harvest 2020 targets. Access to land is one of the greatest obstacles that faces young farmers. Discussions on the possibility of ring-fencing young farmer top-ups on the single farm payment under CAP, or providing start-up aid for young farmers under pillar 2, are academic if young farmers cannot get land in the first place. A straw poll in one of the agricultural colleges has suggested that half of its graduates do not have land to farm. Statistics which can be gleaned from the payments made by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food tell us that approximately 5% of farmers are under the age of 35, whereas 28% of them are over the age of 65. Some sources estimate that between 10,000 and 15,000 farmers who are over the age of 65 have not lined up a successor to pass their land to. They have not made a plan for who will carry on the baton of farming. It is not helpful for farm continuity to be broken, even for a temporary period, when we are trying to achieve targets.

There has to be real concern about land mobility. We already have a favourable tax relief regime. We have land transfer and capital tax reliefs, the young trained farmer stamp duty relief and agricultural relief to help young farmers. In many cases, the farmer who is disposing of land can apply for retirement relief. The land-leasing tax exemption allows older farmers to gain tax relief if they rent or lease out their land over a long term. Despite these incentives, there continues to be a problem that needs to be tackled if we are to encourage older farmers to exit or retire from the sector with dignity and thereby facilitate young farmers who want to start up. This is necessary if the industry is to be more productive and generate more income for our economy. I welcome the research document that was commissioned by Macra na Feirme, and supported by the Department, the IFA and the Irish Farmers' Journal, to examine the issues of farm succession and transfer. I look forward to the publication of the report towards the end of the month. In advance of that, the key is to incentivise older farmers, especially those over the age of 65, to bow out gracefully from their land, even on a temporary basis, and allow young farmers to access the land they need.

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