Michael Comiskey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join with my colleagues in paying tribute to the former Minister, Deputy Shatter, who was a reforming and hard-working Minister. It is a great pity, he will be a great loss to politics and I wish him and his family well. I also congratulate the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, as well as the incoming Minister, Deputy Charles Flanagan, and I look forward to working with them in their new portfolios. Members must now start to work with the new Ministers and continue the job that has been started.

I welcome the recent news from the Minister, Deputy Noonan, that farmers who are forced to sell entitlements before 15 May will be exempt from capital gains tax. This will be worth an average of €7,000 per farmer to approximately 6,400 farmers. This is extremely good news because all Members have been contacted in recent months by farmers who were forced into a situation in which they were unable to use their entitlements or had been leasing them out in recent years and had no option but to sell them off. There was a risk that capital gains tax would be applied in that respect and consequently, this is very good news and will be a great saving for the farming community.