Macra expresses disappointment at Irish Budget 2025

The discretionary spending went from €1.5bn last Friday to €2bn on budget day. Surely there was something in it for everyone?

Macra president Ms Elaine Houlihan said: “To say that our members are disappointed is an understatement, with so much money washing around government coffers, we had hoped that for once the right course of action would be followed in relation to young farmers and farming succession, we were foolish to think that.”

On agricultural taxation, the renewal of stock relief for young farmers and partnerships up to 2027, the expansion of the accelerated capital allowance to include certain safety equipment and the expansion of stamp duty relief to include young farmers in company structures is welcome.

Ms Houlihan said: “Macra had called for these measures in our prebudget proposals as taxation remains one of the important policy levers to support young farmers and rural youth and government needs to be ambitious in using it to support young farmers”.

These along with an increase to the capital acquisition tax thresholds and extension of the help to buy scheme are positive for rural youth.

While the above are welcome and all parties in this government state support for family farms, though none of the parties have yet been able to define what a family farm is.

Elaine went on to say: “In reality this budget provides sops to our agricultural industry. Our members are tired of the platitudes and a lack of structural change. Clearly, no government party sees any future for rural Ireland except as a commuter belt for Dublin, Cork or Limerick.

“Macra have looked for a seismic shift in how we do business, how we rejuvenate our industry, how we get more young people into the industry, yet we are met with more of the same, a tweak here and an increase there, why there is no recognition of the fact that this is not working baffles Macra.”

Elaine went on to say: “When Ireland was at its poorest, we were the most ambitious country in the world, look at Ardnacrusha, look at free education, look at thousands of local authority houses that were built, but now when we are awash with funds, our government looks to once off handouts, rural youth are not for sale.”

Elaine also said: “Macra did not look for much, we want to see a future for farming in rural Ireland, we share this modest ambition with the other farming organisations, it’s a pity that such a sentiment is not present in the halls of Leinster House.”