Martin pledges farm retirement scheme if elected

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has pledged that his party will deliver a “generous” farm retirement scheme if elected to the next Government.

The outgoing Tánaiste said such a scheme would have to give retiring farmers “a reasonable income” and a quality of life.

“We have to get this right, it’s a broader macro-economic necessity and societal necessity to have food security into the future. I am concerned at the numbers under 35 that are in farming now, that is a concern, and we can’t ignore the demographics.

“There is a need to facilitate farm retirement to have a much smoother and incentivised progression of young people into farming. That’s a combination of protecting the CAP and using our own funding, given we have a reasonably benign economic outlook for the next number of years.

"If we can maintain that, we should be in a position to help farmers retire,” he told the Irish Farmers Journal this week.

When asked if he would implement restrictions on non-farmer buyers of farmland, he said the new farm transfer relief measures in the Finance Act have tried to restrict some land purchases to those outside of farming.

“The State’s societal goal is to maintain family farms. My concept of it is the family passing [the farm] down within a geographical area. Having people coming in disrupting that is overall problematic in terms of sustainable food production into the future.”

He said that there were “limited” mechanisms to give a level playing pitch.

Martin said he believes the subsidies to the suckler and sheep sectors are justified given their contribution to food production.

“I think subsidies matter in terms of ensuring the sustainability of food production. I’m absolutely committed to climate and I’m equally committed to food security.

“I’m worried about our adaptability to climate, and we need to factor in food production. Ireland is a big supplier to Europe and Britain; those countries need Ireland. I take the view that subsidisation is justifiable on the basis that it maintains the production of food.

“Some will say that production is carbon-this and increases carbon, but give me the logic of reducing food production in Ireland but you increase food production in the Americas. I don’t get that climate equation.

“There is no other way of doing it other than every country must do its targets. But that creates oddities and anomalies, and one of those anomalies is almost that you’d facilitate food production systems that are far less climate efficient than Irish farming, and I’ve a fundamental problem with that,” he added.

Hill farming

When asked about the hill areas of the country and the farming actions that can’t be carried out there, he said he believes farmers in these areas should be “compensated more generously”.

“If we’re putting restrictions on people in respect of what they can do from a farming perspective, I think we can do more on the financial supports.

“There can be over intensification in certain areas, but if we’re saying pull back on the intensification then let’s compensate.”

Derogation

He said he is very concerned about the future of the derogation.

“I do fully realise the impact if we don’t get it. We need a national effort but we need all farmers involved, not just those in derogation. Irish agriculture depends on this and we need a parallel discussion at European level to really collectively get the message across.”

Government formation

He categorically ruled out going into Government with Sinn Féin.

“They don’t get the economic model in Ireland, they’re anti-enterprise and they’re anti-Europe. They’ll try and mask that.”

He said that he believes that “Sinn Féin are not to be trusted in Europe”.

He said he would consider going into Government with parties that are pro-enterprise, open to trade and believe in the EU model.

The Cork south central TD said he did not envisage a day when Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael would merge into one party.

“We have different priorities. We’ve different traditions. It took us six months to negotiate the last Programme for Government which illustrates the difference between the parties.”