Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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1305.To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will consider the introduction of a farm retirement scheme with funding from CAP and/or national resources; and if he will make a statement on the matter.[35983/24]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The family farm is at the heart of agriculture in Ireland, and I am a strong supporter of assisting the next generation to take over the farm when the time is right to do so. It is essential for the ongoing development of agriculture that there are young and enthusiastic people coming through.

Supporting young farmers and new entrants is critical to ensure a bright future for the agri-food sector. Of course, it is also important to consider the position of older and retiring farmers. The current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) cites generational renewal as one of its nine key objectives. Under Ireland’s CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027, there is substantial investment in achieving generational renewal. This is complemented with national supports, including strong taxation measures facilitating generational renewal and the early inter-generational transfer of family farms. In addition, long-term leasing income tax relief supports access to land for young farmers and provides a route to retirement for older farmers.

Our national stakeholder-led strategy for the agri-food sector, Food Vision 2030, highlights the challenge of generational renewal and proposes several actions, including maintaining the current strong level of support, the promotion of succession planning & land mobility, and increased education and promotion of the diversity of careers in the agri-food sector.

While a retirement scheme was discussed in preparations for this CAP, it was decided to direct the available funding into:

• The Complementary Income Support for Young Farmers’ Scheme, to help young farmers establish their farming businesses, by dedicating some 3% of the direct payments ceiling. This allocation of approximately €35m per year will see young farmers, who qualify, benefit from payments averaging some €175 per hectare over the five years of the scheme.
• The National Reserve, which provides support to two priority categories of Young Farmer and New Farmer. Successful applicants will receive an allocation of payment entitlements on land for which they hold no payment entitlements, and/or a top-up to the value of existing entitlements below the national average entitlement value to bring them up to the national average value, subject to an overall allocation of 50 entitlements per successful applicant.
• The TAMS capital investment measure, where a higher grant rate of 60% for qualified young farmers is available.
• A Collaborative Farming Grant Scheme to provide financial support to encourage older farmers to form partnerships with young, trained farmers.