ICMSA say Budget 2025 provides some reliefs for farmers but “disappointment” on “endemic income volatility”

Commenting on Budget 2025, the President of ICMSA, Denis Drennan, said that while he welcomed the extension of a number of reliefs to 2027, farmers would be disappointed that the long-standing and crippling issue of ruinous income volatility has not been dealt in Budget 2025 and while Mr. Drennan welcomed the Minister’s commitment to deal with it in Budget 2026, he said that a solemn undertaking needed to be given if the damaging confusion on the matter is to be cleared up.

“Income volatility is the biggest challenge facing the farm sector – it is completely entwined with the question of the transition to low emissions farming and investment – and it is bluntly disappointing that the Government did not deliver on its commitment contained in the original Programme for Government commitment. Everyone knows that ICMSA has tried its level best to convince the Government of the need to address this matter and also that we have showed the Government several ‘off-the-shelf’ volatility-mitigation measures that we adopted specifically to address the Irish situation. This question just has to be addressed in Budget 2026 – regardless of who is in Government – and we will continue to push the obvious solution to an endemic problem”, said Mr. Drennan.

On measures to improve the position of farmers in the land market, Mr. Drennan said that ICMSA welcomed the focus on the issue that has high net worth non-farmers using farm relief measures to avoid various inheritance tax measures. But the ICMSA President said that the Association will await the publication of the Finance Bill before passing judgement on the measures announced today: “We are not completely convinced that the measures announced by Minister Chambers actually get to the heart of what’s been going on and how to deal with it and have concerns there could be unintended consequences.”   

On the expenditure side, ICMSA welcomes the doubling of the budget for the Dairy Beef Scheme which, Mr. Drennan, said was “an obvious, right and environmentally sound step in the right direction” and the ICMSA President said that the funding should go to the people rearing the calves. He added that it was already obvious that further funding will be required in future years if we are to realise the economic and environmental potential of dairy beef production.“On a wider note, there’s a lot of general and non-targeted improvements in allowances, reliefs and thresholds, and farmers will benefit in common with all citizens and taxpayers. But we will admit to being disappointed that the Income Volatility Mitigation measures we proposed didn’t make it into this year’s package and we would like to see further details around the measures being taken to address non-farmers using farm relief measures to pass on non-farming wealth to successors.   ICMSA welcomes the overall positivity of the Budget and the fact that it has at least signalled the fact that it knows that our farming – and the wider agri-sector that rests on farming – needs active support and not just a kind of benevolent neutrality. That change in attitude needs to be turned into concrete measures”, said Mr. Drennan.

Ends       1 October 2024

Denis Drennan, 086-8389401

President, ICMSA.

Or

Cathal MacCarthy, 087-6168758

ICMSA Press Office