Active farmers must be excluded from paying residential zoned land tax (RZLT), Minister for Finance Jack Chambers said at this year's Ploughing in Ratheniska, Co Laois.

Speaking at the Irish Farmers Journal tent on Tuesday, the minister acknowledged that RZLT is a significant area of concern for a lot of farming communities.

"We want to make sure that there is a process there to ensure that active farmers are excluded and are not subjected to that tax.

"All three parties have set out that they want to exclude active farmers, so we're finding a mechanism to do that. We must exclude active farmers," he said.

'Backbone'

Minister Chambers said that agriculture is the "backbone" of many rural communities and added that while there are specific challenges currently facing farmers, he said that he is actively working on solutions with Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue.