Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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1174. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the measures he is taking to address the problem of generational renewal within Irish agriculture; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19254/19]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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My Department currently has a number of measures to support young farmers and generational renewal both at national and EU level.

Under the current CAP, the Young Farmers Scheme and the National Reserve provide financial support to young farmers and new entrants to farming during the crucial early years immediately following the setting up of a farm enterprise:

- 8,245 applications were received for the Young Farmers Scheme in 2018, with payments totalling €18.4 million issued to young farmers throughout Ireland.

- A further €31 million has been allocated since 2015 to young farmers under the National Reserve.

Additionally, under the TAMS II Young Farmer Capital Investment Scheme, co-funded under the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, young farmers can avail of the enhanced grant rate of 60% as compared to the standard rate of 40%. Under this Scheme, €12.5 million was paid to approximately 1,300 young farmers in 2018.

There are also a number of national taxation measures specifically aimed at young farmers, specifically ‘100% Stock Relief on Income Tax for Certain Young Trained Farmers’ and ‘Stamp Duty Exemption on Transfers of Land to Young Trained Farmers’. These measures aim to increase land mobility and the productive use of land and to assist farm succession and transfer.

In 2017, I launched the 'Succession Farm Partnership Scheme'. This provides for a €25,000 tax credit over five years to further assist with the transfer of farms within a partnership structure, promoting and supporting the earlier intergenerational transfer of family farms. This scheme also encourages important conversations within farm families regarding succession planning.

Teagasc’s recent publication “Teagasc Education Vision – meeting future needs” outlines the importance of education for young farmers and the development of their skills through education and training. This core function of Teagasc is supported and funded by my Department.

I recently launched the Future Growth Loan Scheme with my colleagues. This is a long-awaited source of finance for young and new entrant farmers, especially the cohort who do not have high levels of security.

Supporting young farmers and generational renewal continues to be a priority for my Department and will form an important part of the CAP post-2020. My Department and I are actively engaging with other Member States and the EU on these issues during the current negotiations on new CAP proposals.

Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent)
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1175. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his attention has been drawn to the findings of the Western Development Commission, which has estimated that the number of persons working in agriculture in the west has decreased by 41% in the past 20 years; if his Department holds similar data for the other regions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19255/19]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The Western Development Commission's (WDC) report “Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing Employment in the Western Region” uses national census population data from 1996 to 2016. As the data used is drawn from the Census of Population, it counts people who recorded their main economic status as being at work in a particular sector.

My Department uses statistics from a number of sources, including the Census of Agriculture, which is carried out by the CSO every ten years, the latest one in 2010. The table below shows the number of family farms based on the 1991, 2000 and 2010 agricultural census.

*Note some changes in CSO methodology after the 2000 Census of Agriculture

The WDC report shows that there were 24,448 people who recorded their primary economic activity as agriculture, forestry or fishing in 2011, while the Census of Agriculture found that there were 56,074 family farms in the western region in 2010. This suggests that many farmholders did not record farming as their main activity in the census.

The Teagasc National Farm Survey 2017 shows that 43% of farmers in the Border region and 39% of farmers in the West region had off-farm employment.

I think it is important that we take account of part-time farmers in terms of analysis and planning for the future, in order to assist these farmers to make their farming enterprise as efficient and profitable as possible.