Address to Seanad Éireann by Members of the European Parliament
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-27
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PJ Murphy (FG), Agricultural Panel

I thank our MEPs for being present. I thank them for all the work they do on our behalf. I was delighted Ms Walsh mentioned the farm retirement scheme. She absolutely hit the nail on the head regarding the flaws in the previous farm retirement scheme. My grandfather availed of that scheme. While it helped to transition the use of land from generation to generation, it was filled with flaws in requiring the retiring farmer to step away. We need to achieve two priorities from any new farm retirement scheme. The first is the transfer of knowledge from the retiring farmer to the farmer who is taking over. The second relates to the fact that our land is a limited resource and we only have a small amount of it. We need to ensure that the land we have is being used by the people most fit to use it. Land is currently being minded by armchair farmers. We need to get that land into the hands of young farmers. The MEPs are conscious of that.
Like my colleagues, I ask MEP Mullooly to withdraw his shocking statements. He has stained an industry with his statement today.
We have all listened to his populism and his nonsense over the past number of months about the fuel protests and Mercosur. He should not stain this House with his nonsense. He should have respect for this House and withdraw his statements.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-27/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:00+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-27