Agriculture Industry
Dail Éireann — 2025-10-14
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Martin Heydon (FG), Kildare South

In relation to the forgotten farmers, I have addressed that issue. The scheme opened up for applications earlier in the year. Those who qualify under the terms and conditions I inherited from an issue 20 years ago will be dealt with and will be paid by the end of this year. That is an issue that will be addressed once and for all.
In terms of the broader piece, a line in the report of the commission on generational renewal jumped out at me. It stated that what will not change is that the key decisions made around succession will still be taken in conversations around the kitchen table by the family members. What we have to do in government is support that conversation.
When I was the Minister of State in the Department with responsibility for farmer mental health and well-being, I funded local initiatives, including a local-led project in Mayo, where we trialled supports for farm families in the area of succession to try to take the stress away from it. The thing that really struck me from it was that so many people put the decision off because they were afraid of it. They do not want to have the discussion and what triggers the need to have it. You do not want to do it in a time of crisis. There was relief among the families when they engaged with the services and realised that it makes much more sense from a taxation perspective to do this in a planned way. That is what we will do. We will have a full wraparound of services here to support farm families to make these decisions in a structured way. Some of that will be part of the next CAP, but much of it can be done in the meantime. I will continue to work on this area, including on other taxation measures that I am discussing with the Minister for Finance.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-10-14/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-21T01:01:04+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-10-14