Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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186. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason there was no working capital loan scheme announced in budget 2019 for farmers in view of the severe cash flow difficulties being experienced; and the reason the Government decided not to use the €25 million allocation announced in budget 2018 to create a low cost cash flow loan scheme. [42605/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The agreement I secured from Commissioner Hogan to make higher advance payments this autumn will result in a very substantial €260 million in additional cash flow for farmers in 2018.

I have had ongoing engagement with the banks on the cash flow pressures arising from the effects of the weather on grazing and fodder stocks. I am pleased to see that this engagement and the delivery of last year’s Agriculture Cash Flow Loan Scheme have acted as a catalyst to encourage financial institutions to improve and develop new products for the sector, including:

- A recently announced initiative by one of the main banks mirrors the Scheme in offering a discounted interest rate with extended and flexible repayment terms.

- All three main banks have dedicated offerings in response to the current situation.

- Co-ops have introduced recent initiatives on credit facilities for their suppliers.

A Spending Review of the Agriculture Cash Flow Loan Scheme, published with the Budget, concluded that this was one of the main outcomes of the Scheme.

In the context of these new and improved supports in this area, the focus of the Government has been to address market gaps, the most critical of which has been identified as unsecured longer-term investment finance. In his Budget speech my colleague the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe TD, formally announced progress in relation to the development of the “Future Growth Loan Scheme” for SMEs, including the primary agriculture and seafood sectors. As I announced on Budget day, this is the Scheme for which I had provided €25 million in funding in 2018. This is a key Government Brexit response that has been under consideration and development throughout 2018.

Further details will be provided in the coming months. The Scheme is expected to be in place in early 2019 and will run for three years from its launch date.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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187. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason no farm management deposit scheme was introduced in budget 2019 as put forward by farm organisations as a key income volatility tool; if he had discussions with the Minister for Finance in this regard; and the further reason the proposal was not supported by Government. [42606/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Taxation policy is primarily the responsibility of the Minister for Finance. My Department and I have ongoing liaison with the Minister and his Department on matters relating to agriculture. This year the Departments collaborated on the Progress Implementation Update of the Agri-taxation Review 2014, which is available at the following link: h.

This shows the excellent progress made over recent Budgets with the implementation of almost all of the 25 recommendations of the Agri-taxation Review. This has resulted in positive changes for Irish agriculture, especially in the areas of land mobility and succession. The Update shows that taxation support to the sector averaged €930 million per annum in the years 2012 to 2016, of which an average of €240million per annum was in taxation measures exclusively available to farmers. The Update also includes a comprehensive economic evaluation of an income stabilisation measure.

An additional income stabilisation measure was not introduced by the Minister for Finance in Budget 2019. However, income averaging is a very useful tool in successfully managing volatility, and I was pleased that Minister Donohoe and I could agree to the lifting of the restriction whereby farmers with additional self-employed income could not participate. This will make income averaging available to significantly more farmers.