Minister for Housing Simon Coveney and Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar presented their manifestos on Sunday and Monday respectively. Here are the aspects relevant to agriculture and farming:

Simon Coveney

  • Brexit: Minister Coveney argues that he is best placed to obtain a favourable outcome for Irleand in Brexit talks. “I believe that my experience as both a Member of the European Parliament and a Minister for Agriculture may be of value in this regard,” he says. He pledges to “resolutely defend the interests of vital national industries such as agriculture, fisheries and food during future Brexit opportunities, while also taking full advantage of the new opportunities which Brexit presents both at home and abroad”. He also says that small and medium businesses will require additional Government support to respond to Brexit.
  • Taxation: Minister Coveney’s plan is to reduce the higher tax rate to 50% including PRSI and USC. He also wants to raise the threshold for the higher tax rate. On capital gains tax (CGT), he says: “I favour strengthening the reliefs for small and medium enterprises rather than a general cut in CGT, which might well stoke further price rises in the housing sector. I am also committed to introducing further measures to ensure that SMEs have improved access to credit.”
  • ”Bridging the urban-rural divide”: More balanced planning and development features strongly in Minister Coveney’s manifesto. He promises to deliver a long-term plan – Ireland 2040 – to plan for strategic infrastructure including road, rail and broadband connectivity.
  • Leo Varadkar

  • Brexit: Minister Varakdar promises to “put the unique difficulties of the agriculture and food sector top of the agenda,” including the ring-fencing of farm payments. He will argue for Northern Ireland to stay within key EU policies including the single market and CAP. He will seek a free-trade agreement between the EU and the UK post-Brexit to “protect trade, our enterprises and agriculture”. He adds: “An enterprise and farming stabilisation and transition fund will be established to support businesses and farms in making the transition to the new post-Brexit trading environment.”
  • Red tape and tax: Minister Varadkar wants to create an independent commission “to examine the body of regulation that applies to business and agriculture when it comes to health and safety, information obligations, the environment, heritage and building to establish which ones are justified on an evidence-basis, in which cases EU regulations have been ‘gold-plated’ without good reason and carry out a cost-benefit analysis on them.” Like Simon Coveney, he wants to limit the top tax rate to 50%. He argues that “the self-employed should have tax equality”.
  • Regional development: Minister Varadkar is proposing a new national spatial strategy to ensure that most population growth occurs outside Dublin. He pledges to implement the Government’s existing Action Plan for Rural Ireland, “particularly focusing on broadband provision, investment in regional and local roads (including community and local improvement schemes) and increased supports for job creation, including more foreign direct investment in the regions”.
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