Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 July 2026
63. Deputy Joe Cooney asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will outline whether a farm income volatility taxation measure will be included in his Departments priorities for Budget 2027; to outline his engagements with the Minister for Finance and farm organisations on such a measure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52214/26]
View answerI am fully aware of the volatile nature of farm income. Agricultural output prices and input costs are sensitive to geopolitical and global economic factors, as well as more localised factors such as weather conditions. This can lead to significant variations in income from year to year. There are currently a number of measures, both through the €9.8 billion CAP Strategic Plan and nationally funded, designed to reduce risk and respond to market crises. One of the most effective tools in addressing volatility is the certainty provided by direct payments under CAP.
While taxation policy is primarily the responsibility of my colleague the Minister of Finance, I work closely with him on taxation issues relating to the agri-food sector. Ahead of last year's budget, both Departments engaged on this issue and the Department of Finance produced an analysis for the Tax Strategy Group, which has been published (www.gov.ie/en/department-of-finance/collections/budget-2026-tax-strategy-group-papers/). The analysis concluded that the introduction of an income volatility measure is not recommended on the grounds of cost, tax equity, tax administration, regulatory issues, and equality.
I have discussed this issue regularly with farm organisations and am open to further discussions with stakeholders regarding potential measures to manage income volatility.
