Edward Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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106. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there is a strategy for succession planning for farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [66716/25]

Edward Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I offer the Minister my best wishes for his role, which is not so new anymore. His is a very important role, particularly at this critical time. We are in different constituencies but are near neighbours where south Kildare meets west Wicklow.

Agriculture in Ireland is ageing fast. Currently, the average age of a farmer in Ireland is 59. Only 4% are under 35. This imbalance poses risk to long-term food security and to this important sector, which exports 90% of what it produces. The programme for Government commits to a farm succession scheme. Is there a strategy for succession planning for farmers?

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this point. While he is in a different constituency, he is the TD who lives closest to me, as we straddle the border between Kildare and west Wicklow.

The challenge of generational renewal in farming has been widely recognised at both national and EU level. The programme for Government prioritises supporting intergenerational farm succession. Food Vision 2030, our shared strategy for the agrifood sector, states that generational renewal in farming is critically important to ensure the future viability and social sustainability of the Irish agrifood sector and of rural Ireland.

Ireland provides a range of supports, including initiatives under the current CAP strategic plan, a suite of strong taxation measures and access to finance, as well as advisory and education and training supports. Despite this support, the average age of farmers continues to rise. The most recent figures show that only 4.35% of farmers are under 35 years of age and some 37% of farmers are over 65.

In September, I launched the report of the commission on generational renewal in farming. Generational renewal, including farm succession, is a complex issue and there are many factors involved. The commission on generational renewal in farming was established to examine this issue and has produced a thorough analysis and made 31 recommendations across a wide range of areas, including CAP supports, pensions, taxation, access to finance, access to land, collaborative arrangements, advisory services, education and training, the important issue of gender balance and the overall attractiveness of the sector. These recommendations will be carefully considered. They are contained in a report that runs to 180 pages. The recommendations will be considered by an implementation group in my Department who will engage with agricultural stakeholders and the relevant public bodies. While some recommendations are for consideration in the context of the next CAP, it is hoped that others can be progressed in a shorter timeframe. Some of the taxation recommendations have already been considered and progressed in budget 2026, with those extended for a longer period than had been requested or anticipated.

Edward Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I have read most of that document and most of those 31 recommendations are very worthy.

I would like to see a lot of them being implemented.

On a slightly related matter, I worked most of my life in small and medium sized businesses. The thing that strikes me most about farming is the huge fluctuation in prices from year to year. Most businesses face increases in costs or sales prices in single digit percentage changes. It is not so in farming. This makes it difficult to plan and means people have to build up large reserves to be confident of being able to continue to trade or else they will run out of cash. We need to take measures to make it financially attractive to run a farm business. We need to reduce red tape, which is a turn-off for many farmers, and make all schemes much simpler. Many of the recommendations of the commission on generational renewal in farming will help.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I agree with the Deputy in many ways. The question I am most often asked about generational renewal is whether there will be a scheme in the next CAP or what it will look like. I want to be able to develop a succession scheme and I hope to have the resources to do that, but young trained farmers will not make life-long decisions based on whether they get one grant in 2028 and put everything on hold until then.

Generational renewal gets to the heart of everything I do. The efforts we are making to try to ensure we have a derogation for nitrates for the next few years is critical to giving certainty to young trained farmers to invest and take the plunge into full-time farming. My new bovine TB plan is a massive issue for the Deputy's constituents in west Wicklow, as it is in Kildare and across the country. Having certainty that we will get on top of that perennial issue, which has been around for 75 years, with a new approach is a key measure. My support for the tillage sector is a key measure in giving confidence for generational renewal, as is making sure farmers have a good solid income. When we talk about sustainability as a three-legged stool, the economic sustainability is every bit as important as being able to deliver the environmental and societal sustainability.

Edward Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I bring the Minister's attention to another matter related to generational renewal. I will highlight an unfair flaw in the operation of the fair deal scheme relating to land transfer, for example to a grandchild, which is causing huge financial hardship for families. I will explain how it operates. This rule must be changed. If a family transfers land within five years of the owner entering a nursing home, this land is valued. If the recipients lease the land, they must pay the nursing home 7.5% of the value of the land on an annual base, with no three-year time limit like there is for the family farm. This could go on for 14 years until the total value of the land is paid over. This is completely unfair.

There is no possibility of deferring the payment, as there is for the family home. It is therefore a huge financial burden. Where is the family to get the funds? I know of a case in which a family or young person is being assessed to pay €23,000 per year and the income the person is getting from leasing the land is only €5,000. The person has nowhere to find the cash and it is putting them under huge financial hardship. I am sure the Minister will agree that this is totally unfair. I would like it to be looked at and changed immediately.

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The fair deal scheme has had a specific impact on farmers. While it is not under my remit or that of the Department of agriculture, I have engaged with previous Ministers for Health on it and I would be happy to work with the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, on this area as well. The last Government made changes around it and we want to be able to give certainty, clarity and comfort to people who are planning the transition of land in the most difficult of circumstances. We want to make sure the fair deal scheme is fair in how it does it. I will be happy to work with the Deputy and colleagues across the House on that issue, because how it affects farmers and how it affects small businesses more broadly is a key consideration.