Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Tiramisu Studio via Shutterstock

Johnny Healy Rae 'Kerry farmers work for €2 to €3 an hour with no pension scheme or social welfare'

I own a small farm at the bottom of Mangerton Mountain. It’s far from the land in the Curragh but I wouldn’t give it away for all the gold in China, writes Johnny Healy Rae.

I HAVE BEEN a member of Kerry County Council since 2011. It is an unusual place to be at the best of times, but last Tuesday something changed for the worse with the introduction of levies on new farm buildings.

In my council constituency, which is the biggest in Ireland and covers two and a half peninsulas, Iveragh, Dingle and Beara, there is no doubt that these places and their people are some of the finest in the world. They depend mainly on farming, fishing and tourism.

I want society to understand the difficulties that the people I represent are facing.

Small and barely viable farms

In Kerry the majority of farm holdings would be small and barely viable. Most farm families would have an off-farm income to keep themselves going, as they would not be able to maintain a household otherwise.

I believed, or at least I did until these development levies, that our local authority and its elected officials understood the difficulties farm families face, farming marginal land in between mountains.

The issue at hand here is development levies which are a source of income for local authorities and are, of course, extremely important to maintain services. They are liable to be paid on all new houses, industrial and commercial buildings, wind farms and telecommunications masts. There’s a list as long as my arm, but for the first time levies are required to be paid on new farm buildings.

These farm buildings are required to meet European environmental policy standards and there are grants available to help farm families to bring their buildings up to standard.

Farmers have just come through difficult years

It seems, in my view, to be completely ridiculous that a local authority would now want a cut of that grant for farm buildings that should be exempt from this, and had always been exempt before.

Farmers have managed to come through a few difficult years, the same as everyone else, and they pay income tax, road tax and property tax. They also pay commercial water charges and have been doing so for about 25 years, that is if they were lucky enough to be near a mains water supply.

If you are not one of the lucky ones you would have to drill your own well, pay for it and be delighted if the water is of an adequate standard.

These levies are not the single worst thing to ever happen farm families and they have survived way worse but once they are now introduced, these levies are there forever more.

Other counties

In Cork there are no levies. Limerick has no levies. Clare has an exemption up to 800 square meters. Kerry County Council’s exemption is 250 square meters; this is approximately the size of a 4 bay shed with pins.

Piggeries, for instance, now have to provide extra room for each pig under new EU laws. This means they will have to rebuild all their sheds where they will be liable for these levies and in turn put jobs in rural places in jeopardy.

I thought we understood that most farm families were farming for the love of the land and the way of life. But when you hear some councillors say that myself and my sister Maura are only looking out for big farmers, they obviously have forgotten that Kerry is made up of small holdings, most of which was inherited from their parents and all Kerry farmers want to do is to make a living and hand the farm onto the next generation.

That is of course if they are willing to work for €2 to €3 an hour with no pension scheme or social welfare, along with spending two years or more in agricultural college to qualify for anything. They must also be willing to have another job on top of the farm if they want to survive where they were born and reared.

I wouldn’t give it away for all the gold in China

I own a small farm at the bottom of Mangerton Mountain on a road called the Bog Road, where the people before me sold turf for to make an extra income off the land.

It’s far from the land in the Curragh but I wouldn’t give it away for all the gold in China. It was left to me by my grandfather and I hope to leave it to someone belonging to me some day.

This is how all farmers feel about their land, in spite of every regulations, they continue to look after their farms. They’re custodians of it and wouldn’t harm it in anyway. An Taisce and others should remember that the next time they criticise farmers or put an unfair levy on them.

Farmers should be encouraged to stay at this work and not be slapped with levies on a shed that might never make a return.

Johnny Healy Rae is an Independent Councillor for South and West Kerry.

‘We should follow Norway and publish everyone’s tax returns online’>

Life on the minimum wage: ‘I am on antidepressants to help me cope’>

download

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
119 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute in_zane_burger
    Favourite in_zane_burger
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2014, 3:06 PM

    Can I have my money back now

    32
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute padser123
    Favourite padser123
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2014, 3:33 PM

    It’s like’…..burning your furniture – to keep warm!

    23
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul Roche
    Favourite Paul Roche
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2014, 4:52 PM

    Why are PwC saying this instead of IBRC and NAMA?

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Philip
    Favourite Philip
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2014, 5:20 PM

    As property prices start to rise nama , ibrc start to dump property

    Can someone explain why?

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dara O'Brien
    Favourite Dara O'Brien
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2014, 5:56 PM

    Dumping loans philip, not property. They’re Dumping the loans as they’re non-performing and want to get them off the balance sheet.

    If they had the patience, they’d put arrangements in place to allow the properties to return to positive equity and then seek a sale, this recouping more of the tax payers money.

    Unfortunately, they’ll sell the loans for a discount and allow the new purchasers to do this and net a tidy profit.

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Garry Coll
    Favourite Garry Coll
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2014, 5:02 PM

    The article outlines that IBRC (IBROKE would probably be a better name) will offload € 15 billion in loans.
    Yet the linked article tells us that IBROKE have already offloaded 90% of its loanbook, € 19.8 billion out of € 21.7 billion leaving just € 1.9 billion on hand.
    This can only mean, if the previous article is correct, that it is NAMA that is offloading the majority of the loans.
    Why the subterfuge?
    Why make people think that this is some kind of joint enterprise when it is NAMA that is leading the charge?
    Have the shiny suit brigade from the canal something to hide?
    Given their obsession with secrecy it would not surprise me if they have, perhaps selling the loans to some preferred customer with an inside track at a serious discount.
    The way things go it will all be wrapped up before we know anything, plus ça change.

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Irish Revolution
    Favourite Irish Revolution
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2014, 2:58 PM

    Who in their right mind would buy this junk?

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Padraig McHale
    Favourite Padraig McHale
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2014, 3:01 PM

    It might only be worth 30% of face value but if you buy it for 20% it’s a good deal. For the buyer anyway.

    32
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Tony
    Favourite Tony
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2014, 3:06 PM

    @ Irish Revolution

    The Banks?

    14
    See 1 more reply ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Deirdre McDonnell
    Favourite Deirdre McDonnell
    Report
    Apr 3rd 2014, 2:42 AM

    Hedge funds bought it. They will now sell off all the ghost estates etc at a lower price so people that have houses for sale at the min will eventually have to sell for half or take them off the market.
    Fab house here in drogheda asking price €325. Hilarious. You could now nearly get a house for that on raglan road or ailsbury road!! So that house is realistically worth less than €150 really.
    People and notions ha

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Vanessa Doyle
    Favourite Vanessa Doyle
    Report
    Apr 2nd 2014, 7:04 PM

    What about Bank of Scotland selling on my mortgage & others in their Irish portfolio to a company called Tanager Ltd.
    I’m in a tizzy all day because I don’t know what it means for us.

    3
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds