Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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This is a very important Commencement matter and I thank the Minister for coming to the House to brief us on it. There has been a lot of discussion. From looking at some parliamentary questions last year, I note this issue or variations on some sort of scheme or incentivised scheme for retirement have been raised. I have read the Minister's various responses and I think things have evolved somewhat since. There has been recent coverage in the Irish Farmers' Journaland many provincial newspapers of the suggestion that the Minister is considering a retirement scheme for dairy farmers. What I am looking for today is some clarity on this.

As someone who has attended the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the Minister will be conscious of this matter and I thank him for his attendance before that committee. As Minister, he takes a significant and active interest in it. I also want to use this opportunity to thank him and acknowledge his engagement with farmers on the ground. I have been at a number of marts he has attended. To get into the ring and engage in a meaningful, very focused and simple way with farmers in the best public space they know - the mart - has been very impressive. There has been significant feedback about the fact the Minister actually went there. When you go into the, dare I say it, circle, you do not know what is going to hit you. The Minister was brave enough to do it and bring his message to the people directly involved in agriculture, and I acknowledge that.

The Minister will know that Macra na Feirme and, in particular, its president, John Keane, who is a very dynamic individual, have continued to highlight the importance of the challenges around retirement and the need to bring young farmers into play. In any scheme for the dairy sector, we must be conscious of a number of things. They include the challenges around the environment, and they are challenges. No final decision has been made. There are many ways of dealing with the environment and how it interacts with the farming community and its incomes. We must move people at a certain pace that best fits their set of circumstances. Macra na Feirme has continued to highlight the need to secure transitional issues around farming and a younger generation in farming, which is a challenge. I am deeply concerned about the current percentage of about 6% of farmers under the age of 35. What does this tell us? This is an enormous challenge for us. However, there are new ways of doing agriculture and new methods. There is diversification in agriculture. Alongside all of that must be incentives, ongoing learning, knowledge and engagement of different practices, here and internationally.Teagasc has a major role in that. The level of qualification of our young farmers is very impressive. Many farmers are engaging with the green certificate and many are not deriving all their income from agriculture. They have off-farm incomes. It is part of a new model, although it is not ideal for everyone. There are different horses for different courses.

This is the complexity, the diversity and challenge around agriculture for farm families, rural development and income. At the same time people must not feel they are being pushed off the land. An older generation may be able to transfer knowledge and experience. For those people what we are talking about is not just their farm or place of work; it is their home, their community, their language and their lifestyle. We must understand all these complexities when we speak about rural communities and agriculture.

I am asking the Minister to share with us his ideas on the proposed dairy farmer retirement scheme, how it is progressing, the timelines and how he would like to see it rolled out. I thank the Minister.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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Before the Minister responds I welcome to the Gallery Senator Eileen Flynn, who has a group from Cork with her. They are the Cork young women's group from the Traveller community, ably led by Ms Mags O'Sullivan. I welcome them here today and I hope they enjoy their day in Leinster House.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I echo the Cathaoirleach's welcome to our guests. I thank Senator Boyhan for raising this important topic.

Generational renewal and ensuring that there is an avenue for the next generation to not only enter our great agriculture, food and farming sector but also to flourish is a core element of my strategy as Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Despite the many challenges we face, I am convinced that there are bright and exciting opportunities both inside and outside the farm gate. I can assure the Senator and everyone here that generational renewal is at the centre of all our policies in the Department.

The challenge of generational renewal is widely recognised at national and EU level, and farmers at both ends of their careers take a keen interest in this area, unsurprisingly. There are challenges both for younger farmers becoming established and older farmers having concerns about future income, taxation, succession and the retirement process itself.

The new Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, cites generational renewal as one of its nine key objectives. It is also prominent in Food Vision 2030, the new stakeholder-led, ten-year strategy with generational renewal as a key priority. Food Vision 2030 proposes a number of actions, including maintaining the strong level of current support, the promotion of land mobility and succession planning, and increased education and promotion of the diversity of careers in the agrifood sector. This reflects the need for skilled and innovative young farmers to respond to societal demands for quality food and environmental public goods. Supporting younger and older farmers therefore remains a key policy objective.

Given this, there are a range of measures in place at present, both in the existing CAP and at national level, that support younger farmers and facilitate generational renewal. Under the current CAP, this includes the young farmers scheme, the national reserve, the targeted agricultural modernisation schemes, TAMS, II young farmer capital investment scheme and support to establish collaborative farming arrangements. Further assistance is available from national supports, including through taxation measures such as the agricultural relief from capital acquisitions tax, stamp duty exemptions, stock relief and long-term leasing relief, as well as the availability of tax credits via succession farm partnerships. Such interventions, as the Senator knows, are available to all sectors, including dairy, providing vital supports to young farmers in setting up their enterprises and older farmers wishing to retire. They are absolutely crucial.

Ireland’s draft CAP strategic plan proposals reaffirm our commitment to generational renewal. Under these proposals, Ireland will implement the complementary income support for young farmers, dedicating some 3% of the direct payments to help young farmers establish their farming businesses. This allocation of approximately €35 million per year will see qualifying young farmers benefit on a per hectare basis, which will be more advantageous to young farmers than the current system, which was linked to payment entitlements. The proposed rate will significantly increase from approximately €70 per hectare in the current programme to over €170 per hectare, with a maximum payment area of 50 ha and payment on all eligible hectares, even those without corresponding entitlements.

The national reserve will also be utilised to fund at a minimum the mandatory categories of young farmers and new entrants to farming. In addition, a higher grant rate for qualified young farmers is proposed under the capital investment measure.The CAP strategic plan will also continue to provide support for collaborative farming and will propose innovative ways to advise older farmers on succession and their retirement options, which will, very importantly, increase the availability of land for younger farmers.

I recently established the food vision dairy group, to which referred Senator Boyhan referred, which brings together key stakeholders to advance the actions for the dairy sector identified in the strategy. The group has been engaged in constructive dialogue, with discussions on a variety of issues, including the calculation of the current emissions inventory, pathways to reductions in nitrous oxide emissions and the challenge facing the dairy sector in stabilising and then reducing emissions. While nothing is off the table, similarly there are no defined concrete proposals. I expect that an interim report from the group will be submitted to me shortly and I look forward to that.

My key focus is that the farming and agrifood sector remain strong and sustainable into the future. Our farm families and their businesses are world-class as matters stand, and I want to ensure there is a viable future for the sector for many generations to come.

Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I thank the Minister. The key word I used in starting this debate was "retirement". The Minister's focus was more on young farmers and I welcome that.

There are two sides to this, first, those coming into farming and encouraging them to stay and, second, those who may wish to diversify, get out of dairy or reduce their input in dairy, which is important. What is critical here, and I know the Minister also believes this, is that we collectively ensure that farming enterprises are retained and encouraged, albeit with diversification. That is the key message. We hear so much about cutting the national dairy herd and dampening down or changing. We need to talk about broad diversification. We want to keep people on the land, keep our rural communities and viable family farms, add, expand, co-operate and use all sorts of synergies. The reality of new farming for many people is that there will be off-farm income. In some cases, that is by choice and it is to be encouraged. There is nothing wrong with that. For some reason, people have a view that such farmers are lesser farmers. Who is a farmer? Farming is a resource. It is historic, tied up with family and it diverse. Let us not push people off the land. This is about encouraging people and sustaining rural communities and agriculture. I thank the Minister for attending in person and giving a comprehensive overview.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Senator Boyhan for raising this matter and for his ongoing and active interest in all matters agricultural, both in the Seanad and on the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, at which he is a consistent and effective contributor.

The issue of generational renewal and retirement is very important. The Senator referred to my tour of the marts when I visited at least one mart in every single county. Every farmer in the country had an opportunity to engage directly with me, whatever the question was, whether constructive, critical or suggestive, and to receive a response. One of the issues that arose as part of that engagement was generational renewal and one of the suggestions that came forward was to introduce an early retirement scheme, similar to what we had in the past. I decided ultimately not to go down that road. When we did it before it was found that it did not necessarily achieve its key objective of directing funding towards young farmers and getting young people into farming. Instead, it funded farmers who were under 65 years of age to leave early. A large number of farmers aged over 65 years who are entitled to the pension are staying on.

I want to get young people into farming. When we have a certain defined pot of money, is it better to give funding to people to retire early or is it better to target it at the young farmers we wish to encourage? The approach I have taken throughout the CAP has been to try to direct this funding towards young farmers. We have increased funding and improved all of the existing schemes. As we go forward, the key policy objective will be to bring about generational renewal and get young farmers into the industry to sustain it. Farming is a very exciting sector, more so now than it ever was. It is not just about producing food, which is central to what we do and continues to be a core mission, but also about other aspects. For example, how do we produce food sustainably and in a way that contributes to reversing the biodiversity decline that we have seen worldwide in recent years? Farmers have a central role to play in that, while continuing to do what they do so well, namely, producing food.

Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his comprehensive reply.