Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon has said that Ireland's current "domestic decision making" on Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) supports for young farmers is "not there yet".

The minister was speaking at an event in Portlaoise today (Wednesday, June 17) for agri-sector stakeholders ahead of Ireland's presidency of the Council of the EU.

The event was attended by farm organisation representatives and industry figures.

In a question and answer session, Macra president Josephine O'Neill asked the minister what commitments will be in place for young farmers in the next CAP.

"In the CAP proposals there is no ringfenced funding, legally binding, for young farmers going forward. So minister, what commitments will you be making regarding ringfenced funding for young farmers firstly, and secondly, how do you intend to better support young farmers during Ireland’s presidency?" she asked the minister.

O'Neill also pointed out that Ireland is the only country in the EU that does not provide installation aid for young farmers, having previously done so.

Minister Heydon commented: "We’re probably a little bit not there yet in terms of that domestic decision making around how we do it."

The minister said that he is trying to get "the maximum flexibility" in the next CAP that would allow those decisions to be made.

"The ringfenced piece of it, it's really challenging, it comes back to the broader point around the overall budget," he said.

"[European] Commissioner [for Agriculture] Hansen has very big ambitions there around what we want to deliver for generational renewal in financial terms," Minister Heydon added.

However, the minister acknowledged that these ambitions are challenged by the proposed amount of funding for the next CAP, which is some 20% lower than the current CAP.

"That’s much more challenging in the context of this declining budget as opposed to a flat budget or an increased budget," he said.

"So these are things we have to work through, but take it as a given, and the amount of times it's been referenced here today, there isn’t one intervention that I'm going to make and say that’s my 'tick the box' for generational renewal. Generational renewal is going to be integral to everything," Minister Heydon added.