We see that farmers now get two thirds of their income from hand outs paid for by the urban worker. So its clear that the current structure of farming is uneconomical and can only be sustained by putting a massive burden on urban workers. Farm collectivisation has a bad name, but, in reality, this is what the EU has being trying to do for a long time, i.e. to push out the small and middle sized farmer in favour of the large ranch. The only trouble with this system is that it puts incredible and unmerited wealth in the private hands of the rancher. Larry Goodman, for example, collects a single hand out every year of half a million euro - just for owning so much land. It makes much more sense to run these large farms/ranches as state farms, with workers doing a 40 hour shift, like any other worker. As I say, all Irish farms are massively subsidised already by the taxpayer. Even if the state farms were no more profitable, or even a good bit less profitable, it would still mean a massive saving for the population in general, as land for roads, schools, homes, hospitals, etc. would already be in state hands, so no addition fee would have to be paid. This would make an enormous change to the very structure of Irish society, as increases in productivity in the workforce would no longer be converted into higher land prices - as happened over the last ten years, and during all times of prosperity over the last several hundred years. Instead of increased productivity being swallowed up by land price inflation, it could instead be put into building up a native Irish industry that would lessen our junky like dependence on the multi-nationals. Its this retardation of Irish industry that is the real cost of leaving the land in the hands of about 1% of the population.

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If voting could change anything - it would be banned.

"The transition from Capitalism to Communism is certainly bound to yield a tremendous abundance and variety of political forms, but the essence will inevitably be the same: the Dictatorship of the Proletariat." V.I. Lenin. The State and Revolution.

yep, thats a great idea, lets reinact the penal laws and place the possibility of eviction from the land your father and grandfather farmed in the hands of bureaucrats who won't be tempted to give land to political supporters!!!!

onward to a social democratic republic of ireland, like north korea except without heavy industry.

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Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones. -Marcus Aurelius

Why should such a tiny group, 40,000 full timers and 85,000 part timers (according to teagasc) be allowed to hold the rest of the population to ransom?

Im not talking about giving land to anyone, it should be all in public hands and farming should be done on an industrial scale.

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If voting could change anything - it would be banned.

"The transition from Capitalism to Communism is certainly bound to yield a tremendous abundance and variety of political forms, but the essence will inevitably be the same: the Dictatorship of the Proletariat." V.I. Lenin. The State and Revolution.

Why not go the New Zealand route? Remove all subsidies and grants from the farming sector, and let them survive in the real world.

This (after considerable pain) led to massive consolidation of farms, and improved productivity and profitability.

The inheritance tax that farmers enjoy isn't fair.

Why should PAYE workers be expected to take a disproportionate share of the burden tomorrow, whilst farmers get off scot free?

There has already been a great deal of consolidation of Irish farms under EU schemes. The removal of subsidies would certainly be a help, and would allow the price of land to drop to a more realistic figure. But it would seem that farm hand outs are not the only reason for the massively inflated price of Irish agricultural land. Even now, after months of recession, Ireland, which is 4% urbanised, has agriculatural land prices ten times higher than France, which is 26% urbanised. So other factors are in play than the hand out, which French farmers also get. I think the link between the retarded state of Irish industry and the price of Irish land cannot be avoided. Increases in Irish productivity are directly converted into land price inflation. Investment in Irish industry is entirely avoided. The only way to stop this is to nationalize the land.

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If voting could change anything - it would be banned.

"The transition from Capitalism to Communism is certainly bound to yield a tremendous abundance and variety of political forms, but the essence will inevitably be the same: the Dictatorship of the Proletariat." V.I. Lenin. The State and Revolution.

I was just wondering who else had come up with natioalising land recently?.........
Oh yeah.................Robert Mugabe...........that other socialist!

The high cost of farm land is a uniquely Irish phenomenon.

There are many reasons for it.

Why Irish land is so scarce in such a sparsely populated country is beyond me. I suspect it's because being a land owner in Ireland is so lucrative. Otherwise, there'd be plenty of land turning over in the system at reasonable prices. Just like in any other civilised country.

Basically, it's down to small-mindedness and greed.

Yes, this policy was a great success in the Soviet Union.

It's also time I married Kiera Knightly, won the rollover lottery and saw Spurs win the Champions League.

Pie, meet sky.