Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to respond to this matter today. I fully appreciate that the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, is busy with the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, negotiations. I hope he will continue to resist calls for higher levels of convergence and that he will continue with the fight to ensure productive farms remain viable in Ireland, particularly for young people.

I have raised this matter because, in respect of the age profile of those involved in farming, over 55% are aged over 55, whereas only 5% are under the age of 35. In its Irish farm report which was published last month, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, IFAC, found that 71% of the farmers it surveyed had not yet identified a successor, and one third of them cited the fact they believed the farm they were farming was no longer viable. Let us put that into context by looking at careers or professions with similar numbers. Taking the public service, for example, if 55% of gardaí or teachers were over 55 and only 5% aged under 35, it would be a major crisis. For any other business, or indeed the civil or public service, that kind of age disparity would represent a major crisis. We are now facing a significant crisis. It requires radical measures to address it.

There are some indications from the CAP talks that around 3% of direct payments will be ring-fenced for young farmers. Macra na Feirme and indeed the European Council of Young Farmers have indicated that figure should be 4% at European level, because it is not just a challenge for Ireland and we need to be that radical. While I accept the Government has significantly increased the budgetary spending on agriculture and has introduced a number of small schemes and various tax measures, none of them have been radical enough to address some of the challenges we are facing.

We need to look at education and greater levels of educational supports for young farmers. We certainly need to look at the financial supports that are in place to ensure it is viable. We need to look at mentoring schemes. We also need to look at the retirement schemes that are in place to ensure they are in the best interests of farm families. I have spoken to many young farmers and they have often told me it is not just that they have to support their own families on the farm but also they often have to support their parents. Farming is a multigenerational activity.

As with all of farming, the biggest challenge is around the question of income levels. The issue is how to make farming attractive as a career. Farmers have no problem with working long hours, but the difficulty is that while we are seeing increased productivity, we are not seeing increased profitability. When there are so many other options for young people coming from rural and farming backgrounds, there is less of an incentive to take over the farm and engage in food production.

It is essential we continue to have farming and food production that is sustainable environmentally, but it is also vital we have a farming system in Ireland that is sustainable financially. I worry that if we do not take radical action now, we are going to continue to see the flight from the land. We are going to see fewer and fewer young people engage in farming and seek to take over the family farm. As we have seen, the challenge we will face will be that the age profile of those who are farming will continue to increase.I am asking that we be radical in our approach and look at those levels of intergenerational support, particularly in the CAP negotiations.