Minister urged to review young farmer scheme and 'simplify rules'
Irish MEP Ciaran Mullooly has called on Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon to urgently review the Complementary Income Support for Young Farmers (CIS-YF).
Mullooly warned that the current level of penalties and non-compliance is "undermining its intent".
To qualify for this scheme, applicants must be under 40 at the time of their first application and must have established themselves as head of a holding within the previous five years.
Payment is made per eligible hectare, subject to a maximum of 50ha.
Payments should average approximately €150 per eligible hectare over the five-year term of the scheme.
However, Mullooly warned that the scheme’s impact is "being eroded by excessive penalties".
Department of Agriculture figures reported by Agriland earlier this year show that 14.4% of applicants inspected in 2023 were found to be non-compliant.
With around 6,400 participants in 2023 and about 6,150 in 2024, this means hundreds of young farmers are at risk of losing part or all of the support intended for them, Mullooly said.
Under EU regulations, the inspection sample rate for schemes like CIS-YF is set at 5% of applicants.
In a statement to Agriland previously, DAFM said that the control rate currently is 10% of applicants "due to the failure rate".
Mullooly said: “The department’s own figures prove this isn’t about farmers failing the scheme - it’s about the scheme failing farmers.
"In fact, when the department doubled the inspection rate and still recorded a high failure rate, it proved beyond doubt that the issues lie in the system itself.”
Mullooly is urging Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon to simplify the scheme’s rules, provide clearer guidance for applicants, and ensure the focus is on supporting rather than penalising.
“The scheme should help young farmers, not trip them up on technicalities," he said.
"Its purpose is to keep the next generation on the land and we must make sure it delivers."
Mullooly stressed that the wider issue of succession in Irish farming is already a massive challenge.
"Farming across the country is struggling and the last thing young farmers need is another barrier placed in their way," he added.
"We should be removing obstacles to renewal, not creating more of them."
