Press Room

Macra national president Colm Markey has criticised the Department of Agriculture for its inflexible approach to allocating entitlements to applicants under the National Reserve.

Mr Markey said that the rejection of new entrants who are marginally over the EUR20,000 off-farm income limit in category D was an example of the inflexible stance by the Department.

'These young farmers starting off are being ruled out of eligibility for the National Reserve because of 'technicalities' that date back to 2003. Many of these new entrants used the off-farm income to establish a farming enterprise and have now scaled back their off-farm employment and in some instances are now full time farming,' he said.

Mr Markey said that the hard line approach by the Department is badly affecting many new entrants who are trying to make a go at farming. He also said that applicants who feel they were unfairly excluded from the National Reserve should appeal their case to the Department of Agriculture.