Plan to ensure decisions about farm 'handled in the way' you want - state service
Farmers may be used to planning ahead on their farms but, according to the state-supported Decision Support Service (DSS), a sample survey suggests they are "not planning for their own lifetimes".
The DSS is a state service established by the Mental Health Commission for adults who "may require help, now or in the future, to exercise their right to make decisions about their personal welfare, property, or affairs".
Since its launch in 2023, the DSS has actively supported individuals in making decisions independently, including by highlighting the practical steps required to create an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA).
An EPA lets someone appoint an individual they trust as their attorney. The attorney’s role is to act on their behalf to make certain decisions if that person is unable to do that in the future
Latest figures from the service show that by the end of August 2025, it had registered 3,692 EPAs, with a further 2,397 submitted for review.
However, a sample survey carried out by the DSS at the 2025 National Ploughing Championships earlier this month highlighted what it described as a "a striking gap between Irish attitudes and actions when it comes to planning ahead".
Áine Flynn, director of the DSS, said that many of the people she and her team spoke to during the Ploughing understand the value of planning ahead on the farm in the short and longer term - whether it is setting seed for next year’s crop, planning the winter fodder or the once-in-a-lifetime decisions like planning the handover of the farm - "but they were not planning for their own lifetimes".
Flynn added: "One-third of Irish farmers are now over 65, according to Teagasc, and it is typically in a person’s later years that an EPA becomes critical for families.
“While many farming families talked about wills and inheritance, our conversations revealed what we already knew; making an EPA is the missing piece.
"While a will covers what happens after you die, an EPA makes sure decisions about the farm, finances, and a person’s general welfare are handled in the way they want while they are still alive.”
Flynn said that the DSS wants to encourage people of all ages to see registering an EPA or making an advance healthcare directive as part of sensible life administration – not something to leave until later in life, or when capacity has become an issue.
"At the moment, not enough Irish adults are doing this – and that needs to change," she said.
