Some good news for rural farmers in ‘election budget’

A welcome, with reservations.

Connemara sheep farmer, Tom O'Halloran insists he has no political axe to grind and pulls no punches in his consideration of the Noonan-Howlin package of measure in Budget 2016.

“It’s an election budget, but that said, there are some good announcements there.

“In the last seven to eight years it’s definitely the best budget and there are things in it that have to be welcomed, such as the €1.3 billion allocation as part of a new agri-environmental scheme, but it’s the detail of that I’d like to see”, he says.

Based at Glentrague, just outside Clonbur in north Connemara, Tom and his wife Nora have three children – Tomas (18) who is at agricultural college, Maeve (15) and Ellen (12).

He turned 50 this year and the proposal to facilitate the transfer of the family farm to a younger family member is significant, he believes. Again, he will be looking for the details.

Increasing the threshold of Capital Acquisitions Tax for families from €225,000 to €280,000 is a big plus, particularly for west of Ireland farmers, as is the upwards adjustment to €11,000 of income before the 20 per cent tax rate kicks in for the self-employed.

But with Ellen suffering from diabetes, he is disappointed that there was nothing in the budget with regard to medical cards for children with long-term illnesses.

Similarly, he was hoping for a realistic investment package aimed at improving the broadband and mobile phone service in areas like his in rural Ireland.

“I’m speaking to you now on my mobile phone and I’ve had to travel eight miles to take the call. That’s how bad it is.”

His area is traditionally known as Joyce Country, but he believes that in the next 15-20 years, it will be virtually emptied of the next generation – especially if there is no proper investment in infrastructure.

“Young people just won’t stay on the land. I’m finding it more difficult every year. I have six or seven lean months because all the farm payments come together at the end of the year. They should be coming in spring and in September to help people like me to budget.

“My son has the desire to take over from me in time, but he would really want to have an off-farm income to survive. You won’t raise a family or keep a decent standard of living from farming alone”, he insists.

If he can finish with the job of dipping the sheep in time, Tom will try to catch what Michael Noonan has to say in his traditional slot on the Sean O'Rourke programme on radio Wednesday morning.