The Department of Agriculture has €5.1m in unused funds which is available for a National Reserve for young farmers in 2017.

The funding is from the previous Young Farmers’ Scheme and it was outlined to the farm organisations at a meeting of the CAP Advisory Committee last week, in the Department of Agriculture.

If this is the only funding available, a new National Reserve will have to be very targeted.

After the meeting, IFA deputy president Richard Kennedy said a National Reserve can be funded from the unused funds without taking additional funds from existing entitlements.

“Imposing additional linear cuts on existing entitlements would not be acceptable to farmers,” he said.

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