Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The wider context is that we are encouraging those of an age who want to transfer their business to a younger member of the family to do so in a way that encourages additional economic activity. I heard the Senator's remarks that this could inflate land prices but all of the evidence suggests that land prices are on the way up not as a result of this, but because the agrifood area has seen substantial growth in recent years and there is a significant demand for produce. We are seeing this growth around the country in response to that. If ever there was a market governed by the principles of Senator Barrett, it is this area. I have noticed an increase in land prices due to the substantial improvement in the agrifood sector which is encouraging more and more people to go back on the land in the most efficient way possible.

I am not an expert in this but we took this position in the previous budget to encourage the timely hand over of an asset like this as a means of encouraging younger people in a farming family or elsewhere to move the asset forward. It has been successful thus far.