Macra na Feirme National President Colm Markey has said the Early Retirement Scheme for farmers must be retained and enhanced.
He was responding to comments made by Minister for Agriculture Mary Coughlan that the scheme may have run its course. The minister said that she is considering scrapping it.
Mr Markey said: 'The ERS acts as an incentive for parents to hand over the reins to young people; it needs to be improved and modernised, not scrapped.'
He added: 'The Early Retirement Scheme gave many young farmers the opportunity to gain control of their farms at a young age and allowed them to drive their farm forward at a time in their lives when they were best placed to do so.'
