Press Room
Macra demand Installation Aid changes
Colm Markey, Macra national president, said that the following are among the changes the organisation has put forward:
Under transitional arrangements, Macra na Feirme believes that any young farmer who applies for the scheme in 2007 should be eligible for the new scheme if they set up during 2006.
Under the definition of 'set up', the minimum area should be a maximum of 15ha for non-less favoured areas and 10 ha for less favoured areas not 15ha and 20ha respectively as proposed by the Department.
A five year lease, as is the case in the existing scheme, should be sufficient for set-up as opposed to the ten years proposed by the Department.
Applicants should be allowed to apply up to 12 months after set-up without acquiring any penalties.
Commenting on the introduction of a business plan, which will replace the viability income units, Mr. Markey said that it was important that this did not result in an additional financial burden for young farmers.
'The plan must be flexible and allow farmers the opportunity to review and make changes if necessary. Furthermore, the plan should be signed off as part of the application. It should not require a separate sign-off by the adviser,' he said.
The young farmer leader also said that Macra was advocating the FETAC Level 6 Advanced Certificate in Agriculture as the new minimum education requirement for stamp duty.
With regard to the introduction of an off-farm income limit, Mr. Markey said that this should be assessed on the farmer's first year in farming and not on earnings prior to being set-up.
'Some farmers may have an off-farm job that they quit to go farming. Assessing their income prior to them reducing their off-farm activity would not give a fair reflection of their income from farming alone,' he said.
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