Colm Burke (Cork North-Central, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister. As he will be aware, the report clearly sets out that only something like 4% of farmers are under 35 and 37% are over 65. This means we have a major challenge. It is also about the demands of farming. In dairy farming especially it is a seven-day week and people are on call all the time. There are jobs outside the agricultural sector that are very attractive. Only 3% of CAP supports are going to young farmers and I think one of the recommendations is to push that as far as 8%. That is one simple area. The other issue with the 31 recommendations is the timeframe for trying to deal with that issue. If 37% of farmers are over 65 then within the next five years there will be a far bigger number. We need to make sure we put in a timeframe for the implementation of the report's recommendations.

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