Irish farmers have lobbied high-level European Commission officials for the country to be chosen for a new EU pilot programme that will see the establishment of a land watchdog in a member state.

A delegation from the Land Observatory Stakeholders Group met with leaders of the agriculture wing of the Commission, DG Agri, on the issue of the mega-wealthy buying up land across the country.

The group was invited back to Brussels on 10 April to hear, alongside interested parties from other countries, Commission plans for a two-year land observatory trial in one member state.

Tipperary farmer and co-founder of the group Daniel Long told the Irish Farmers Journal a strong case was put across for Ireland. The chosen country is to be announced next month.

“We lobbied pretty hard for the pilot to take place in Ireland. The issues we lobbied around were generational renewal, access to land and the need for a land observatory.

“Part of our delegation was European and part was Irish. We advocated on the need for an observatory and how it can address these issues,” he said.

Long added that the delegation stressed problems around attracting young people in Ireland to a career in farming and their access to land.

“We also have issues around land consolidation and we have a lot of investment buyers for land in pockets of the country; with all those things taken into account we feel we’ve a strong case,” he said.