This article is from page 59 of the 2007-12-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 59 JPG
FARMERS organisations gave a lukewarm welcome to last Wednes- day’s budget with very mixed opin- ions of how Minister Cowen’s figures will effect farm incomes.
According to IFA President, Pad- raig Walshe, the increased capital allocation to the Department of Ag- riculture of €35m to help fund the major level of necessary farm invest- ment currently taking place is posi- tive.
“However, a significant shortfall still exists relative to the demand for the two main investment aid schemes, Farm Waste Management and the Farm Improvement Scheme,” he said on Thursday.
The IFA welcomed the Govern-
ment’s response to IFA’s proposal for relief from capital gains tax where joint ownerships of farms by family members are dissolved.
“However, no progress was made on the IFA proposal for targeted re- lief from CGT where a farmer sells and buys land for the purpose of farm consolidation.”
Macra na Feirme national president, Catherine Buckley, also welcomed the increased provision of €35 mil- lion for next year’s Farm Improve- ment Scheme, stating it was critical that young farmers and new entrants are supported in their farm develop- ment plans.
However, she said she was disap- pointed that the Minister for Finance hadn’t taken the opportunity to in- troduce a direct support for young
trained farmers to allow them re- structure their holdings without be- ing liable for transfer taxes.
‘“Macra had lobbied for changes in relation to Capital Gains Tax and Income Averaging issues for milk production partnerships. I welcome the fact that these issues are to be ad- dressed,” she said.
“The number of anomalies has acted as a significant disincentive for some people who wish to engage in Milk Production Partnerships and pointed out that all remaining bar- riers to genuine farm partnerships must be removed to allow farmers to gain economies of scale by farming in partnership.”
Reacting to Budget ‘08, ICSA Pres- ident Malcolm Thompson said that it contained little of any use to cattle
and sheep farmers.
‘‘A number of key issues still remain unresolved, such as the discrimina- tion against farmers and other self employed people arising from the failure to amalgamate the PAYE and persona tax credits,” he said.
“Although the additional money for the Farm Waste Management (FWM) scheme is necessary, many cattle and sheep farmers have been badly affected by the premature closure of the Farm Improvement Scheme (FIS).
‘Measures on farm partnerships are necessary, but the reality is that it is of no benefit to the vast majority of farmers. Most farmers who wish to expand their holdings will continue to pay very high levels of stamp duty on agricultural land.”