Written answers

Tuesday, 25 November 2014

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Agricultural Colleges Courses

Photo of Charlie McConalogueCharlie McConalogue (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)
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225. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Northern Ireland have put in place a 19 week course for two hours per week that will enable young Northern Irish farmers to qualify for the young trained farmer top up under the common agricultural policy and that this course structure would be more preferable for many farmers here than the equivalent Teagasc part time course which will take two years to complete at a greater cost; if it is possible for farmers here to qualify for the young trained farmer top up by completing the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in Northern Ireland course; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44911/14]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Advanced Certificate in Agriculture otherwise known as the Teagasc Green Cert is the standard agricultural education qualification for farm support schemes and for tax incentives such as stamp duty exemption in the Republic of Ireland. On successful completion, students are awarded a Level 6 award on the National Framework of Qualifications as accredited by Quality and Qualifications Ireland. This meets the training requirement for the Young Farmers Scheme. Farmers, who hold a foreign a ward equivalent to the Teagasc Green Cert, can also qualify for the young farmer’s top-up.

It is important to note that in addition to income support and structural adjustment, a fundamental policy objective of the young farmers top-up is to incentivise young farmers to participate in formal agricultural education to the extent that would benefit their farming enterprise into the future. Over several years, public policy has endeavoured to enhance the level of education and training of those working in the industry. The Food Harvest 2020 Report specifically recommended that eligibility for state support should include the attainment of ‘higher’ minimum levels of education or training.

This objective is underpinned by the fact that better educated farmers generate higher levels of sustainable incomes. A recent major Teagasc research study ‘The Economic Returns to Formal Agricultural Education’ (2014) found that formal agricultural education provides positive and significant returns in family farm income and farm productivity. The study shows that farmers having a formal agricultural education consistently have higher farm incomes than those who do not participate in further education after school. For example, family farm income per hectare was about 50% higher where the farmer had a formal agricultural education.

In terms of being an investment, agricultural education was found to yield a significant rate of return to the individual farmer. It improves a farmer’s technical efficiency leading to better use of resources and also supports the absorption of knowledge on farms and the uptake of new technologies.

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