Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for the opportunity to raise this important issue and I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Tony Killeen, to the House to reply to the debate.

I do not intend to dwell too much on the merits of the installation aid scheme for the purposes of this debate, as they are already well documented. However, I would like to put on the record the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food's constant refrain in respect of the decision to suspend the schemes on budget day. He said he regretted that and that when financial circumstances would permit, he hoped to be in a position to reintroduce the schemes.

I wish tonight to draw attention to the installation aid scheme in particular, because there is some confusion in that regard. This confusion arises in particular from an article in the Irish Examiner of 6 December by my good colleague, that eminent agricultural correspondent Ray Ryan, the headline of which reads, "Independent TD secures commitments on installation aid". The article goes on to state that Deputy Michael Lowry secured some agreement regarding applications for the installation aid scheme which had been substantially progressed, but which had not been lodged within the Department by 14 October, budget day. I would like clarification on the agreement made with Deputy Lowry.

I raised the same matter on 3 December as a priority question on Question Time, three days before the said article appeared in the Irish Examiner. The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food said to me in reply:

I have no plans at present to reopen the young farmers' installation aid scheme and the early retirement scheme to new applications, but the limiting of the suspension of the scheme will be considered at the earliest opportunity, having regard to the budgetary situation.

In response to further questions, the Minister went on to say:

I have stated repeatedly in the House and in response to councillors, representatives of various farming organisations and in the media that it is my intention to revisit my decision to suspend entry to the schemes as soon as circumstances permit.

He went on to state:

I understand that at times the delay in lodging applications may have been outside an applicant's power. I am conscious of that but I do not want to mislead anybody. I am not in a position at this time to say when we will be able to progress those particular applicants who had set out on the road to complete an application. I assure Deputy Creed that those applicants will be the first to have their applications processed when it is possible to re-open the schemes.

He concluded by stating: "The scheme was suspended due to budgetary constraints and that remains the position".

Unless the Government has won the national lottery since the Minister went on the record, I have not seen a change in budgetary circumstances that would enable the Minister to live up to the commitments he made to reopen the scheme as soon as budgetary circumstances permitted. Is there some kind of nod and wink politics going on between the Department and the Independent Deputies who prop up the Government, Deputy Lowry in Tipperary North and Deputy Healy-Rae in Kerry South? Has a sweetheart deal been arranged for would-be applicants for installation aid in those areas who have made substantial progress but who have not submitted the application form? Are they being treated differently in north Tipperary than in the rest of the country? Either Mr. Lowry or the Minister is telling porkies. They cannot both be right.

Will the Minister of State put on the record tonight whether the installation aid scheme is back up and running? The IFA has sent the Department a list of approximately 500 applicants who are in these circumstances, but those applicants are in areas from Malin Head to Mizen Head, some in my constituency. Will the Government treat them differently because they do not live in north Tipperary? I want and hope the Minister of State will clearly state the scheme is back up and running and open for business.

The scheme has a value significantly in excess of the €15,000 installation aid grant because it sends a signal to an industry crying out for new blood that encourages new thinking and highly trained qualified farmers at this critical time in the agricultural industry. Is the Minister holding his ground or has he yielded? If he has yielded, he cannot yield exclusively to north Tipperary. It must be a concession that is available to every would-be applicant.

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter and welcome the opportunity to participate in the debate.

Ireland is currently experiencing a period of economic turbulence, stemming from both international and domestic factors, and the context for this year's budget differed considerably from the majority of those of the past 15 years. The priority in preparing the 2009 Estimates for the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was to focus available resources on the measures that allow us to maintain and grow the productive capacity of the agri-food sector. The 2009 Estimates provide over €1.8 billion for the Department. This, when combined with EU funding of €1.4 billion, means that total expenditure in 2009 will amount to over €3.2 billion. Even with a provision on that scale, however, difficult choices had to be made between competing demands. It was in these circumstances that it was necessary to suspend the young farmers' installation aid scheme and the early retirement from farming scheme for new applicants.

The young farmers' installation aid scheme was introduced in June 2007 under the aegis of the rural development programme for 2007-13. It provided a higher grant level of €15,000, an increase of 58%, to farmers between the ages of 18 and 35 years who set up in farming for the first time on or after 1 January 2007. The principal requirements of the scheme were that applicants must generate a minimum of five production units from farming at the time of first setting up or within 12 months of that date; fulfil, within two years of first setting up on the farm the educational requirements of the scheme; submit and complete a business plan; obtain title or leasehold title to at least 15 hectares of eligible lands in less-favoured areas or 20 hectares in other areas; and have not more than €50,000 in non-farm income in a designated tax year.

Since the launch of the young farmers' installation scheme in June 2007, some 941 applications have been received under the scheme and 357 payments made totalling €5.355 million. The Minister has confirmed on a number of previous occasions that all commitments entered into under the scheme, up to and including 14 October 2008, will be honoured by the Department.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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Is that even if they have passed the age of 35?

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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As the Minister has confirmed in the House previously, he is prepared to look at the possibility of reopening the scheme as soon as the general budgetary situation permits. Young farmers whose applications were significantly progressed at the time the scheme was suspended are a priority. In particular, eligible farmers who have continued their training will not be excluded from the benefits of the scheme when it reopens.

As for the scheme of early retirement from farming, the Minister has also confirmed that whenever it becomes possible to reopen it to new applications, priority will be given to those who were making preparations to apply at the time it was suspended. An allocation of €56.7 million has been made in the Department's Estimate for 2009 to meet current commitments under the two schemes.

A number of farm tax measures were renewed in budget 2009. These are part of a number of schemes and reliefs that have been put in place in recent years to bring about improvements in land mobility that will, in turn, improve productivity and efficiency, particularly for young farmers. These reliefs include the renewal of stamp duty relief for four years until 31 December 2012, worth an estimated €53 million in a full year; the renewal of stamp duty relief for farm consolidation for two years from 1 July 2009 to 31 June 2011; the renewal of both the general and the young trained farmers rates of stock relief for a further two years, at an estimated cost to the Exchequer of €2 million in a full year; and the extension of the accelerated capital allowance for necessary farm pollution control facilities from 31 December 2008 to the 31 December 2010, worth an estimated €10 million in a full year.

When combined, these farm tax measures are estimated to be worth over €65 million in a full year. In addition, the top rate of stamp duty on agricultural land transactions was reduced, with effect from 15 October last. This should reduce the cost of agricultural land to purchasers and encourage a higher number of transactions. All these measures should help young farmers to improve land mobility, increase land swaps and attain higher environmental standards.

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Does the scheme remain suspended?