Sheep farming supports
A Deputy argued that sheep farming was not viable enough to attract young farmers and that support schemes were inadequate. The Minister said the sheep welfare scheme was demand-led and pointed to increased ANC and tax supports for generational renewal.
On page 108 of the programme for Government, there is a range of commitments on farm incomes and supporting next-generation farmers. Not many young farmers are going into sheep farming in particular. At the recent graduation in Macroom, it was wonderful to see 18 new farmers receiving their green certificates. Only one person, who was from a very hilly area, was going into sheep farming from that group. Sheep farming is not seen as a viable option for people and they are voting with their feet. The introduction of the sheep welfare scheme was positive but because only two thirds of sheep farmers are involved in it, amounting to just over 20,000 people, there is an underspend and a large number of people are interested in getting into it. Is the Minister reviewing that scheme or is he considering redistributing that funding in order that extra people can get into it, or will there be top-ups for people already in the scheme?
Comment on this
It is a demand-led scheme, open for applications on an annual basis. Anyone who applies gets a payment of €10 per ewe on the basis of actions they commit to, whether for hill farmers or lowland sheep productions. There is a menu of options specifically designed and tailored for either commodity area.
On generational renewal, the Deputy will appreciate that as well as increasing area of natural constraint, ANC, payments in the budget, which will specifically deliver more money to those farmers in more marginal and disadvantaged lands, we also renewed a suite of taxation measures to encourage land mobility and young farmers, including measures on stamp duty relief.