Macra president Josephine O’Neill described the report on generational renewal as “too little, too late”, despite the “hardworking” commission involved.

“Until we see action from our government, the recommendations aren’t worth the paper they’re written on,” she told a lively discussion on succession at the Fine Gael agriculture forum last Saturday.

Trevor Boland from ifac, who is also a suckler farmer, formed part of the Commission on Generational Renewal. While accepting their report “is no silver bullet”, Boland did highlight the more than 30 recommendations in it.

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He added that there is “very limited knowledge within the farming sector” of two grants to assist the succession process.

“There is the Collaborative Farming Grant and the Succession Planning Advice Grant, which will give you 50% of the cost of setting up a partnership or a farm collaboration”. Boland advised families not to wait for new incentives.

“If it’s the right circumstances within a farm, my advice would be to go ahead and do the transfer.

“Succession planning is about transferring farm businesses, but it’s being caught up in the entirely different issue of the generational transfer of wealth,” said one speaker from the floor.

“A core of people that own land haven’t farmed in years, and all the tax reliefs, including agricultural relief, are available to them”.

Fair Deal flaws

The same speaker cited large classes of distance learners graduating with the Green Cert as “people in their fifties who have never farmed, but want to avail of agricultural relief”.

IFA farm family chair Teresa Roche made an impassioned call for an urgent review of the Fair Deal scheme as it pertains to farming families.

Over 24,000 have availed of the Fair Deal scheme, but only 122 people have availed of the three-year cap since it’s introduction in 2021.

Out of that only 49 of them are farmers.

Minister of State Kieran O’Donnell, who has responsibility within the Department of Health for older people, pledged to meet with Roche to discuss her concerns.

“The Fair Deal scheme is there to make nursing home care affordable for people,” he said.