IFA to host online meeting on Residential Zoned Land Tax
The newly elected deputy president of the IFA, Alice Doyle, will attend the Westmeath IFA AGM on Tuesday February 6 in Bloomfield House Hotel (8pm). Topics for discussion will include charter of rights, nitrates, commodity prices, schemes and organisational issues.
Ahead of that, on Wednesday of this week, January 31, the IFA are holding an online information meeting on the Residential Zoned Land Tax (RZLT).
The association’s Farm Business chairperson, Bill O’Keeffe, said updated maps will be published on Thursday February 1, and affected landowners can make submissions on those till April 1.
"The briefing, which begins at 11am, is an opportunity for those affected by this tax to understand the process and what they need to do to get their land removed from the liability," he said.
"Senior officials from both the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Finance have agreed to attend, present and take questions at the meeting. We hope this will bring clarity to the process for those farmers affected," he said.
Mr O’Keeffe said the IFA had been working for some time to get all genuinely-farmed land removed from the tax. "This work will continue, and I encourage all who may be affected to join this meeting," he concluded.
ICSA AGM and conference
The ICSA AGM and annual conference are on Thursday 1 February at the Athlone Springs Hotel, when the special guest speaker is Charlie McConalogue, TD, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
The theme for the conference is: ‘Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security – the One Road?’. Sean McNamara, the current ICSA Sheep chairperson, will assume the role of president of the organisation, succeeding Dermot Kelleher, whose term will come to a close.
The conference open session starts at 3.30pm with a panel discussion featuring guests: Colm Markey, MEP; Maria Walsh, MEP; Barry Cowen, TD; Michael Fitzmaurice, TD; and Claire Kerrane, TD. The evening session featuring Minister McConalogue starts at 7pm.