Legislation that would allow the State to intervene in the land market is needed if Ireland is to safeguard the family farm model from institutional investors, the Oireachtas agriculture committee heard last Wednesday.

The Irish Land Observatory stakeholder group called for the establishment of a database that would track land ownership trends and inform any State action to correct trends deemed undesirable to the wider farm sector.

“France has long operated its SAFER model since the 1960s. It is a system that monitors and, when necessary, intervenes to prevent excessive concentration of land ownership,” co-founder of the group Daniel Long told TDs and senators.

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“Introducing such an instrument here in Ireland would undoubtedly face concerns, particularly regarding property rights and market interference, but the principle it represents – transparency and balance – is worth studying.”

The French system sees the semi-public SAFER bodies act as a watchdog on land sales, which intervene for reasons such as preventing excessive concentration of ownership or to allow young farmers access to farmland.

Long said that it is not just land sales that is adding to the consolidation of land ownership across Ireland, as a “new form of consolidation taking shape” through the long-term lease now offered from solar, wind and biogas developers.

Leitrim forestry concerns

The committee also heard concerns from independent councillor Eddie Mitchell on the role of private forestry investors in his county of Leitrim – the most heavily afforested county in Ireland.

Cllr Mitchell called for increased transparency in the land market, particularly around lands afforested by Coillte but which later changed hands.

“We don’t know who owns the forestry,” the councillor told the committee.

“I am familiar with Leitrim. We started planting a lot of Leitrim in the 1980s. It was done by Coillte and a lot of that land is still in public ownership.

“But we have seen 5,000ha of land leave Coillte. Who owns that land? Where is that land? Who is going to control that land in the future, when you think about mining and all of these other interests.”

The committee met on the same week that figures provided by Minister of State Michael Healy-Rae confirmed that share of the Department of Agriculture’s spend on annual forestry payments going to farmers is declining, as non-farmer claimants’ take is on the rise.

The year 2025 saw the Department pay out a total of €33.4m to farmers in annual forestry payments, where the equivalent for non-farmers was €10.8m.

This put non-farmers claiming around one-quarter of the total premia drawn down under the forestry programme.

In 2020, non-farmers’ share of the forestry premium pot stood at just 13%, meaning that these landowners almost doubled their share of the State’s annual woodland payout.

The total premia paid out to farmers came to €50.4m in 2020, with the equivalent for non-farmers coming to just €7.2m.

The value paid out to farmers has decreased every year since, while the funding headed to non-farmer claimants has been on the rise.