Dáil debates

Thursday, 12 June 2014

Topical Issue Debate

Installation Aid Schemes Eligibility

4:50 pm

Photo of John LyonsJohn Lyons (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Deputies Kyne and Connaughton have two minutes each.

Photo of Seán KyneSeán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for choosing this topical issue. I know the Minister is attuned to the needs of young farmers and that he supported them in the recent Common Agricultural Policy review. For the first time in the history of the CAP there is a chapter dedicated to young farmers, which consists of a mandatory top-up on payments in the first years of farming. Macra na Feirme, which is very supportive and has a mandate on behalf of young farmers, had worked with the Minister and as backbenchers we fully supported the plight of young farmers in terms of generational change of farms, that we have qualified people and that the supports are put in place to ensure that farmers inheriting land, taking over the farms at home or those who have the ability to buy or lease land on a long-term basis would have assistance towards developing their farm business.

In the CAP agreement provision of 2% of funds under Pillar 1 was provided, and a mandatory 25% top-up on single farm payment for new entrants for farmers under 40 for the first five years of installation. I very much welcome those initiatives. However, a cohort of farmers known as the old young farmers have missed out on the previous installation aid scheme that was closed by the previous Fianna Fáil Government and, unfortunately, they will not benefit from the measures to be enacted under the CAP reform programme. Those individuals feel aggrieved that they have missed one boat and are now missing a second boat because it will not let them on board. Is any other measure available to provide them with additional supports either within the CAP programme with regard to easier access to the discretionary fund-----

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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National reserve.

Photo of Seán KyneSeán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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-----or could the national reserve be made available to them or some initiative in that regard?

Photo of Paul ConnaughtonPaul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office and the Minister, Deputy Coveney, for taking this issue. Deputy Kyne clearly spelled out our concerns. I realise there is probably quite a small number of farmers caught in this trap but be that as it may they certainly have a grievance.

4 o’clock

There are some who might not see the importance of it. These farmers, who are as well-trained and educated as those who went before them, and equally as ambitious in terms of what they can do to drive business, do not have the same opportunities as them. Having attended an agricultural college, I know many people in County Galway who were caught out by this. What we want more than anything else is for the Minister, while there is still some movement within the new CAP deal, to see what can be done to help these farmers. I am aware of the time invested by the Taoiseach and Minister, Deputy Coveney, in ensuring the best possible deal for young farmers within the new CAP agreement, which has been welcomed by the IFA and Macra na Feirme. Like Deputy Kyne, I am interested in hearing from the Minister if there is anything that can be done for the group of farmers who are caught in this trap. Is there any way of getting them additional support and aid? Those who previously qualified for installation aid say that it gave them a fantastic hand-up in a range of areas - taking over a farm, production and so on. It also gave them great career opportunities, which is something these young farmers believe they are being deprived of.

5:00 pm

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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While I have a script which provides a great deal of technical information in terms of what young farmers are entitled to under the new CAP - direct payments, rural development programmes and positive discrimination in the form of a 20% top-up on single farm payments and access to 60% grant aid for capital investment programmes on their farms, as opposed to the 40% which applies to everybody else - I do not propose to read it.

For some time now, young farmers have been able to benefit from the national reserve and priority treatment in terms of milk quota allocations and so on. A priority for me as part of the CAP reform process was the facilitation and encouragement of generational change in agriculture. As Deputies Kyne and Connaughton work with young and not-so-young farmers, they will understand agriculture and how it works.

I would love to be able to solve the problem for the small cohort of farmers that are falling between two stools, including those who may be under 40 but will miss out because of the five-year rule. Under current regulations, which are mandatory across Europe in that they relate to schemes for young farmers, to qualify, a person must have started farming in the past five years. A person who just missed out on installation aid when the previous Government decided to abolish it and who has been farming for more than five years will not, even if under the age of 40, qualify, in terms of definition, as a young farmer. We discussed with the Commission the possibility of making an exception for the people about whom we are speaking today. However, we cannot do it without changing the regulation, which cannot now be done because the CAP process is finalised and the regulation is set. There are a relatively small number of farmers that are outside the definition of a young farmer and therefore cannot, we are told in definitive terms by the Commission, receive the 25% top-up. Likewise, they do not qualify for 60% grant aid on their farms. They will qualify for 40% grant aid but not for the young farmer top-up.

In this regard, we are currently examining how we could use the national reserve to try to help this cohort of farmers, but we have to do so within the regulations. I do not as a Minister have the power to spend what are essentially European funds, or partial European funds, on a cohort of people that fall outside the definition of young farmers, who are entitled to receive special supports. This is not a straightforward process. I have a great deal of sympathy for this group of farmers, many of whom I know and have met at Macra, IFA and farming events generally. I have a great deal of sympathy for those who missed out on the last occasion on getting financial supports to get themselves started and are now missing out again, essentially because they do not qualify under the definitions. The definitions are the same across Europe. Therefore, I cannot allocate resources that are directly linked to CAP funds without consistent application of the definition, because this will be audited. We are in communication with the Commission regarding what flexibility we may have in terms of how we use national reserve money to provide top-ups under Pillar 1 or supports under Pillar 2. If it is possible to do something, I will. However, I do not want to over-promise at this stage because so far what we have proposed has not been acceptable to the Commission.

Photo of Seán KyneSeán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his reply. I recognise that he is supportive of this group and that, as he stated in his response, he is actively investigating alternative ways of assisting them. Are the Minister's counterparts in Europe actively pursuing this issue? Will it be possible to put in place alternative arrangements by way of addendum to the existing regulations, albeit regulations not long agreed?

Obviously, the farmers concerned are faced with the same costs as everybody else, including transport, conveyancing, land stocking and farm improvement. In terms of the top-up, has the Minister discussed with the Commission whether, if all the funding is not spent, the remainder could be used to support these farmers?

Photo of Paul ConnaughtonPaul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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I too thank the Minister for his reply. What the Minister achieved through CAP for young farmers was fantastic and is something about which young farmers are particularly happy.

The Minister said he was actively looking at what else could be done and that he did not want to over-promise, which I accept. In terms of what he is trying to achieve, can the Minister tell us when it might be known if anything can be done so that the farmers concerned have a date by which they will know what is and is not possible into the future?

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The problem arose when installation aid was abolished without notice. Many people who had submitted applications missed out because there was literally a shut-down of that scheme. Many people were caught out by that. We have not been able to find the money to reopen that scheme and so I decided to prioritise young farmers through the new CAP, which we have done very successfully. A young farmer lucky enough to take over a farm of 50 hectares or more will receive €16,000 in single farm payments over a five-year period. This is a significant support provided through the new CAP. Also, a young farmer investing €70,000 or €80,000 in a new milking parlour or other facility on a farm that is eligible for grant aid will now receive 60%, as opposed to 40%, of the cost in that regard.

The problem that arises is one of definition. I agree with Deputy Kyne that costs are the same for everybody and that we need to be seeking to treat young farmers the same. The problem is that young farmers who have been farming for ten years do not meet the definition of a young farmer. Essentially, young farmers are defined as people coming into farming who need a good start to get their business up and running. This is the reason for the five-year rule. The problem with the five-year rule, which makes absolute sense in terms of defining young farmers who have come into farming in the past five years, is that a small number of people who missed out on installation aid because that scheme was shut down without notice are now also missing out on this support. Essentially, that is the problem.

I will examine this further in the context of the national reserve, which in my view is the only area where there may be some flexibility, because the Commission has been very rigid on this issue. For us to spend public money, that is, EU money, on young farmers, they have to be defined as young farmers. If they are not, we are limited in terms of what we can do.

I totally take on board what the Deputies are saying and I have much sympathy for it. Finding a solution is not as straightforward as they might think. I have had long conversations on this issue with various parties, particularly Macra na Feirme, to try to find acceptable solutions that could be applied consistently without setting an inappropriate precedent.

5:10 pm

Photo of Michael KittMichael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Robert Troy wishes to comment on his Topical Issue.

Photo of Robert TroyRobert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, has asked me to defer it until next Tuesday, which I am happy to do.

Photo of Michael KittMichael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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We really appreciate that.