I will be brief. I thank the Minister, the Department, the vets and all involved in this for all the work they are doing. One issue that has come to my attention is the additional compensation that is available. It is available on the basis that the total number of reactors is 9.5% or above. That is fine in a situation where it is 9.5% of 50 animals but if it is 9.5% of 300 animals and the number of reactors does not reach that even though there is a huge loss, for instance, 27 out of 300 animals, there are no additional supports. At the same time, they are also locked up for a considerable period of time so there is a substantial loss there. Will that issue be reviewed as well because it has a huge effect on a farm, no matter what size, but in particular where there is a substantial loss of animals?

Sentiment score: 0.09

100. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the engagement his Department has had with relevant stakeholders in relation to generational renewal policies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54722/25]

Sentiment score: 0.16

The commission on generational renewal in farming has published its report. I ask the Minister what engagement the Department has had with relevant stakeholders on generational renewal policies and whether he will make a statement on the matter.

Sentiment score: 0.24

I thank the Minister. As he will be aware, the report clearly sets out that only something like 4% of farmers are under 35 and 37% are over 65. This means we have a major challenge. It is also about the demands of farming. In dairy farming especially it is a seven-day week and people are on call all the time. There are jobs outside the agricultural sector that are very attractive. Only 3% of CAP supports are going to young farmers and I think one of the recommendations is to push that as far as 8%. That is one simple area. The other issue with the 31 recommendations is the timeframe for trying to deal with that issue. If 37% of farmers are over 65 then within the next five years there will be a far bigger number. We need to make sure we put in a timeframe for the implementation of the report's recommendations.

Sentiment score: 0.21

I am a solicitor and if we go back 25 years there was a lot of succession planning, whereas I find the same level of planning is not there now. I am wondering how we can encourage that, talk openly about it and ensure there is a plan in place. In one case, in order to do a proper transfer of land we had to transfer the land to the daughters-in-law because that was the only way we could do proper planning in relation to transfer of land. We are not looking carefully enough about succession planning. There is also a proposal that €25,000 be made available to the retiring farmer. How fast can we put in place some of those measures if we plan them before the next budget?

Sentiment score: 0.17