This week, the members of the commission on generational renewal was announced by Minister McConalogue. Among its remit will be examining the possibility of a new retirement scheme.
This week, the members of the commission on generational renewal was announced by Minister McConalogue.
Among its remit will be examining the possibility of a new retirement scheme.
It’s not short on experience or expertise, that’s for sure.
Its chair, Aidan O’Driscoll, is the current chair of Ornua, former chair of the commission on the defence forces and also former secretary general of the departments of justice and agriculture.
The commission also includes solicitor Aisling Meehan, Teagasc’s Dr Emma Dillon, professor Thia Hennessy of University College Cork (UCC), accountant and beef farmer Trevor Boland, former Macra president and dairy farmer Thomas Duffy, and chief economist at the Department Seán Bell.
However, one has to wonder if the commission itself needs to examine its generational renewal? Just one of the group, Duffy, falls into the bracket of a young farmer, being aged under 40.
That said, a few others are not far out of that bracket.
Is one voice out of seven though enough to represent the needs of young farmers in a commission that is supposed to find ways of encouraging them into farming?
Time will tell.
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