Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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1019. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount allocated in each year of the 2014-2020 rural development programme to the early retirement scheme; the amount drawn down in each year and to date in 2018; the number of farmers that participated in the scheme; and his views on having such a scheme post-2020. [36948/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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At the start of the 2014 - 2020 Rural Development Programme there were 904 applicants in the scheme. The following table shows annual expenditure and allocation as requested.

In recent years the priority of my Department has shifted to the encouragement of generational change for farmers. The focus under the 2014 - 2020 Rural Development Programme is for an enhanced capital investment scheme for young trained farmers. This new Scheme provides grant aid at a rate of 60% of the cost of the investment, compared to the standard grant rate of 40%, and is an important support and encouragement to young farmers starting in agriculture for the first time. No decisions have been taken yet on schemes post-2020.

Early Retirement Scheme – Allocation and Expenditure 2014 – 2020