Many Irish Farmers have take the step of becoming fully certified Organic farmers to meet the challenges mentioned above and to meet the demand coming from the market place, The consumer wants naturally grown food free from chemicals, growth promoters and are prepared to pay for it. For this reason many farmers see Organic farming as a future and a means to better income's

The Irish Organic Milk Producers Ltd (IOMP) will represent organic dairy farmers and intends to develop a nationwide distribution network for organic milk.

It was one of two organisations to be launched at the Co Offaly event. The Organic Growers of Ireland (OGI) was also unveiled at the conference, and it plans to represent Ireland's organic horticultural producers.

IOMP includes milk producers from across most of the 26 counties. They have been loosely associated for the last seven or eight years but have now decided to formalise their relationship.

The group has a milk pool of 2.5m litres and supply the vast bulk of this to Offaly-based organic food producer Glenisk.

However, with a further 2m litres earmarked for organic producers, IOMP plan to develop other possible outlets, while also addressing areas of immediate concern for members.

"Because of the increased power of larger multiples and the fact they have continued to increase their margins, organic dairy farmers are finding that, as their costs increase and milk price drops, viability of farms is being put under pressure," IOMP's chairman, Pat Mulrooney, stated.

Although Mr Mulrooney insisted that members were broadly satisfied with their Glenisk deals, he said IOMP intended to develop an organic liquid milk distribution network.

This initiative will involve supplying small speciality shops rather than multiples, Mr Mulrooney said.

IOMP are also assessing the viability of producing organic cheese. They are currently in the process of registering a cheese brand, which is to be launched within the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, OGI will represent organic horticultural producers and encourage those growers keen to convert to organic production.

OGI chairman Jason Horner said the immediate aim was to support organic growers and promote organic produce.

OGI aims to develop a community of growers, which will facilitate the transfer of practical market information and enable members to share technical information.

The organisation can be contacted at irishorganic growers@gmail.com

Mr Burns said he was very encouraged by the positive approach of Mr Barnier towards the sheep sector and his willingness to drive forward on the key issues identified in the latest EU report on sheepmeat.

Henry Burns said Mr Barnier was extremely strong in his opposition to the Mandelson WTO proposal saying, "no deal is better than a bad deal."

In conjunction with Liam Aylward MEP, the IFA Sheep Chairman presented a detailed set of proposals on the sheep sector to Minister Barnier.

These proposals included increased promotional funding for sheepmeat, EU labelling and branding, opposition to any increase in EU sheepmeat imports under WTO and increased direct supports for sheep. The French Minister told Henry Burns he will organise a major sheep conference involving all of the main EU sheep producing countries and their Ministers in France in early September.

The Irish farmers leader Padraigh Walsh has accused the Commissioner of political expediency in taking a decision in the absence of proper inspections by the Food and Veterinary Office. He said Kyprianou has made a mockery of European food traceability standards, with stringent regulations for European farmers and non-compliance for Brazilians.

Padraig Walshe vowed to continue the IFA campaign for equivalent standards for all food producers whether in Ireland or in importing countries.

While the printed application forms will not be issued for some weeks, Minister Coughlan said she was delighted that arrangements were already in place to accept online applications. Referring further to the online application facility, the Minister added "A number of farmers and their agents are already aware of the benefits of the online application having used this facility when it was introduced last year. The application has been further enhanced and has been made even more user-friendly for 2008 based on the feedback from the farmers and their agents who applied online in 2007. There are built-in warnings etc, which results in fewer errors and, among many other features, there is instant access to all the farmer's land and entitlements details and to previous applications. Anyone interested in registering online for 2008 should visitwww.agfood.iefor full details".While the Minister encouraged an even greater take-up of the online facility in 2008, she also assured farmers that they were of course free to continue lodging written applications in the traditional manner.

Minister Coughlan went on to mention a number of significant changes to the Single Payment Scheme in 2008, mostly following consultations on further simplification at EU level. "Among the major changes that will be particularly welcomed by farmers is the abolition of the 10- month land availability rule. This has been replaced by a one-day rule. Applicants must have the land declared on their form on 31 May 2008. The definition of eligible land for payment purposes has also been expanded to include land used for potatoes, fruit and vegetables so farmers involved in these sectors will welcome this change. The 0% rate of set-aside will also be a bonus to tillage farmers and should go some way towards a much-needed increase in the crops harvest in 2008",Minister Coughlan said. In this context, the Minister also confirmed that while the EU Commission has indicated that it will consider the permanent removal of obligatory set-aside as and from 2009, no official proposal to this effect has yet been brought forward.

The Minister urged all applicants to take great care in completing their 2008 Single Payment Scheme application, which is a vital document for participation in many other schemes as well. A set of Guidelines in a separate document, specially written to help applicants to complete the form, will issue during March to all farmers along with their pre-printed form and the Helpsheet/Terms and Conditions. These documents are already available online. As well as these documents, the Minister said that further help would be available by way of Lo-call help lines. "I have again made arrangements to have dedicated Lo-call help-lines organised to assist farmers with any queries they may have in relation to the 2008 Scheme. Details of all relevant numbers are available online and will be printed in the Guidelines".

Cheques are in the post for the 6,000 REPS 2 and 3 farmers who are awaiting payment.

The debacle between the Department of Agriculture and the EU Commission over the REPS 2 and 3 pay freeze was resolved yesterday.

However, there is no such reprieve for REPS 4 participants.

Following a meeting between Agriculture Minister Mary Coughlan and Commissioner Marian Fischer Boel in Brussels yesterday, the Commissioner agreed to return to the status quo.

However, it is still not clear if this will continue to be the case for future payments. Discussions continue about the method of payment for the scheme after REPS 2 and REPS 3 expire. Until then, Ireland's REPS farmers who were left out in the cold are now to receive payment at the beginning of the contract year — as has been the case.

Minister Coughlan said she was grateful to the Commissioner for her personal intervention to resolve what was an extremely difficult situation.

"I had emphasised to her the seriousness with which I viewed the matter, and the risk of damaging Irish farmers' confidence in a popular and extremely successful scheme which has delivered real benefits to society as a whole in terms of landscape, biodiversity and water quality," Minister Coughlan said.

Farmers' organisations and opposition politicians had warned that failure to resolve the issue could result in a 'no' vote in the upcoming referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

The Minister said she had now obtained the Commissioner's agreement that Ireland could continue as before in paying REPS 2 and REPS 3 participants at the beginning of each contract year.

She said she had directed her officials to take immediate steps to release REPS 2 and REPS 3 payments which had been on hold since early January.

Commissioner Fischer Boel stated that she had no objection to Ireland continuing to receive REPS payment claims and make payments as has been done in the past, until the expiry of REPS 2 and REPS 3 contracts.

Discussions will continue in Brussels tomorrow at official level on the interpretation of the new Commission Regulations governing payments under REPS 4.

The IFA is seeking an urgent meeting with the Minister to sort out payment arrangements for farmers joining REPS 4. Rural development chairman Tom Turley said that farmers joining the scheme had an expectation that payments would be made at the start of each contract year of the five-year plan.

- Majella O'Sullivan

Grants to 189 horticultural producers for capital
investments in new facilities are provided for in the package. The grant aid
covers all areas of the horticultural production sector – including mushrooms,
protected crops, nursery crops, field vegetables, soft fruits/apples and
bee-keeping/others – and will help to fund on-farm investments of about
€23.2m.

Minister Sargent said that the level of interest in the
horticulture aid scheme was now at its highest since the scheme started in 2000
and reflected a very high degree of confidence by producers in the future of the
sector. “This is all the more encouraging at a time when the
importance of fruit and vegetables in a healthy diet have been highlighted by
recent reports in obesity” Minister Sargent said.

Minister
Sargent said that horticultural output was now valued at over €300m and retail
sales were of the order of €650m. The importance of fruit and vegetables in a
healthy diet and the growth in the amenity sector were key pointers for the
future. “There is need for improved production
structures and equipment for energy conservation, good agriculture practice,
proper hygiene and environmental standards and improved working conditions.
These improvements are essential to increase competitiveness, ensure sustainable
production and to assist growers in meeting the increasing demands of retail
outlets in terms of production standards” said Minister
Sargent.

Minister Sargent said that he would urge shoppers to be on the
lookout for locally grown fruit and vegetables and reminded them that fresh
local food tastes good and with less transport is better for the environment. We
should support local producers and by doing so we are making an investment in
our own community.

A breakdown of the grant aid approved for each sector
is given in the Annex beneath

Significant development work is being undertaken at Castletownbere Fishery Harbour Centre this year. The total investment for 2008 is in excess of €9.5m which includes an allocation of €8m for the new quay construction works. The development of the harbour will allow for larger vessels carrying deeper draft and will accommodate all of the new modern vessels which have entered the Castletownbere fleet. Minister Browne confirmed that this year's investment included grant-aid of €1m for the provision of a lifeboat shore facility for the RNLI which is due to be constructed on reclaimed foreshore within Castletownbere Fishery Harbour Centre.

Minister Browne announced that investment at Greencastle will continue in 2008. Grant aid of €3.6m has been approved for Donegal County Council which will enable continued progress on the construction of the breakwater at Greencastle. This project is being carried out and managed on behalf of Donegal County Council by the Department's Engineers "whose expertise and experience in this type of work is widely acknowledged as being of the highest standard." It is also a good example of effective and productive cooperation between the Department and Local Authorities.

In addition to the funding of the six main Fishery Harbour Centres and the Greencastle project, the 2008 programme also proposes significant expenditure on various small harbours. These are harbours around our coastline under Local Authority control that both supplement and underpin the activities undertaken in our larger harbours. "The harbours themselves are of great importance and enable the provision of employment and economic support to coastal communities." The value of the contribution made by these harbours is acknowledged in the Department's allocation of over €6m in grant aid.

Minister Browne advised that in addition to the Programme announced today he hopes to be in a position to shortly announce significant funding for the construction of pontoons at Ross an Mhíl Fishery Harbour Centre.

A table listing all the projects to receive funding in 2008 is beneath.

FISHERIES HARBOUR COASTAL INFRASTRUCTURE
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME 2008 FISHERY HARBOUR CENTRES
Safety and maintenance (all Fishery Harbour Centres) €1,750,000
Disability access (all Fishery Harbour Centres) €270,000
CASTLETOWNBERE
Dinish wharf extension €8,000,000
RNLI pontoon €1,000,000
Effluent treatment upgrade €40,000
Mainland quay extension and provision of slipway €200,000
DINGLE
Dingle harbour dredging €40,000
Removal of old slipway €60,000
Additional berthing pontoons €765,000
DUNMORE EAST
Harbour development project €30,000
Harbour sedimentation/dredging study €50,000
Repairs to East Pier – Phase 2 €350,000
Erection of safety railing/walkway €10,000
Upgrading slipway and access to west wharf €30,000
HOWTH
Installation of powerpoints €50,000
Upgrade of CCTV system €15,000
Maintenance dredging of harbour €100,000
KILLYBEGS
Environmental management study €50,000
ROS AN MHÍL
Gear Store and workshop building €600,000
Onshore works €300,000

LOCAL AUTHORITY PROJECTS MANAGED BY DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, FISHERIES AND FOOD (ENGINEERING DIVISION)
CLARE COUNTY COUNCIL
Doonbeg – Harbour developments €525,000
DONEGAL COUNTY COUNCIL
Greencastle – Phase 1 of harbour development programme €3,600,000
GALWAY COUNTY COUNCIL
Doonloughan Pier – Repairs to access road and pier €75,000
Bunowen Pier – Underpinning works and installation of safety utilities €71,250
KERRY COUNTY COUNCIL
Cromane – Construction pier, breakwater, access road and dredging of entrance channel €750,000
MAYO COUNTY COUNCIL
Purteen, Achill – Assessment of development options €11,250
OTHER LOCAL AUTHORITY PROJECTS
CORK COUNTY COUNCIL (WESTERN DIVISION)
Crookhaven – Phase 1 of harbour development €525,000
Adams Quay Kinsale – Redevelopment of pier €105,399
Cape Clear – Computer generate modelling survey €100,000
CORK COUNTY COUNCIL
Ballycotton – Remedial works to breakwater €500,000
Garnish Pier – Phase 3 slipway development €192,084
DONEGAL COUNTY COUNCIL
Buncrana – Construction of breakwater €900,000
Mountcharles – Installation of sluice valve €9,000
Moville – Improvement to slipway and decking on pier €22,500
Glengad – Repairs to slipway €13,125
Rathmelton – Construction of slipway €37,500
FINGAL COUNTY COUNCIL
Balbriggan – Improvements to structural fabric of harbour to repair storm damage €30,000
Skerries – Planning and design for harbour repair and upgrade €30,000
GALWAY COUNTY COUNCIL
Wallace Quay – New slipway, pier repair and new access road €75,000
KERRY COUNTY COUNCIL
Tarbert – Continuation of pier stabilisation works €37,500
Scraggane – Completion of pier extension works €75,000
Knightstown – Completion of concrete breakwater €75,000
Renard – Works to pier €600,000
Tahilla – Provision of concrete slipway €75,000
Caherciveen – Completion of slipway and apron €5,625
LIMERICK COUNTY COUNCIL
Pier at Ballysteen, Askeaton – Repairs to pier €7,500
MAYO COUNTY COUNCIL
Roigh – Complete wall, carparking area and provision of new slipway €75,000
Cloghans – Complete works to deck and hardstand of slipway €75,000
Bundorragha – New slipway and pier improvements €75,000
SLIGO COUNTY COUNCIL
Raghly Harbour – Completion of harbour crest wall and armour and repairs to top of outer wall, stabilisation to core of pier head and some armour protection €225,000

WEXFORD COUNTY COUNCIL
Kilmore Quay Main Project – Improve pier services preliminary design, detailed design and contract document €262,500
Kilurin Pier – Completion of slipway €26,250
Duncannon Pier – Structural repairs, safety improvements and improvement works to slipway €150,000
St Helen's Pier – Health and safety improvements to slipway €9,000
Carne Pier – Structural repairs and safety improvements €56,250
St Kierans Pier, Bannow Bay – EIA on preferred options, planning, foreshore licences €56,250
Courtown – Harbour condition survey, prioritisation and tender documents €45,000
Fethard Harbour – Prepare bill of quantities, specifications and detailed drawing €75,000
Cahore Pier – Structural repairs and safety improvements €37,500

Miscellaneous Maintenance Projects €20,000

The era of cheap food is ending and consumers can expect to pay more in the future.

One of the challenges facing the Irish food and drink industry is rising ingredients costs, in addition to other operating-costs increases. This is according to Bord Bia chief executive Aidan Cotter.

However, Mr Cotter pointed out that higher prices for food could be good news to pig farmers and offer them an incentive to stay in the game.

Lower supplies of pigmeat in 2007 met with weaker prices and increased competition from other meats. The situation was compounded by higher production costs, although there was a slightly improved home market. A difficult market environment for pigmeat combined with a modest fall in pig supplies resulted in the value of Irish pigmeat exports falling by 5pc in 2007.

In its 2008 outlook for the pigmeat sector, Bord Bia predicts that there will be a gradual improvement in prices, but higher feed prices will remain.

In a survey by the food board, 76pc of respondents said that difficulty in securing a price increase was having a high or very high impact on their business. More than 70pc said that increasing retailer power was having an impact, while 75pc felt that intensity of competition was having a high or very high impact on their sales.

Farming Independent 

The most recent figures available (Dec 2006 sheep census) for sheep production suggest that there are 3.6m sheep (less than 3m ewes) and 35,277 flocks or producers engaged in sheep production. As has been the trend for the past number of years, the Irish sheep population continues to decline in line with what is happening in many of our sheep-producing neighbours within the EU.

Bord Bia estimates that this year sheep throughput will fall by 150,000 head or 4pc to around 2.8m head nationally. The reason for this prediction is that it has been estimated that there will be a smaller lamb crop due to the reduction in ewe numbers. In addition to this, there will be less of a carry-over from 2007. Again, this may have a number of implications for those participating in this industry. On the one hand, a reduction of supply leaves less competition in the market place. This is good news for the producers who stick with sheep. On the flip side of the coin, however, processors may find it more difficult to keep operating at lower capacities and the critical mass required to keep the industry as a whole viable may not be present. Large price surges and unreliable supply may also tempt supermarkets to source product elsewhere.

In Ireland, we are the fifth largest sheep producers in the EU and one of the big exporters of sheep meat on to the EU market place. The prices that Irish sheep farmers achieve are largely a function of the percentage of lamb that is consumed by the home market and the price that is achieved in France and the UK. The lamb that sells on to the Irish market tends to be the most stable in terms of price. The lamb that is exported is subject to external price pressure mainly from UK and New Zealand lamb. Currently, just over 30pc of the lambs produced in Ireland are consumed on the home market. The remainder (48,000 tonnes in 07) is exported primarily to the UK and France.

Influencing prices

So what are the factors that will influence the price that Irish farmers will get this year?

1) Production — production is falling in all the big sheep producing countries, not only in the EU but also across the globe. Sheep numbers continue to decline at a rapid rate in both New Zealand and Australia. New Zealand trades over 60pc of the world export sheep meat. Forecasts suggest that New Zealand production is likely to fall by 4pc in the 07/08 period.

2) Asian Markets — China and its economic boom has resulted in more money in its population's pockets. It is expected that the demand from this large population will grow rapidly over the next few years, leading to extra competition for less product.

3) Market price — supermarkets and wholesalers have, at this stage, largely accepted that current market prices are not viable. The New Zealand and UK sheep farmers have already received assurances of price rises from retailers/processors.

4) Consumption — this is a big issue for the industry. Over the past few years, many of the expected gains from reduced production have not resulted in price rises due to competition from imports and a slow decline in sheep meat consumption.

Product innovation, marketing and ensuring that only quality product gets to market is key, if sheep meat is to maintain its market share.

Summary

So what does it boil down to for the Irish sheep farmer? The medium to long-term outlook for sheep is very favourable.

The increased affluence in the Asian population, coupled with reduced production worldwide, should help to lift the price. In addition, the realisation by all those involved in the industry that farmers need a realistic price if they are to remain viable is also positive news.

On the home front, increased product innovation coupled with strong marketing campaigns should help to stop, or even reverse, the decline in consumption.

So what can you as a sheep farmer expect for 2008? The marketing experts predict that lamb prices should improve somewhat this year with larger increases expected next year, after the world market has absorbed the sheep meat that has been freed up by the downsizing of the sheep industry globally.

Irish cattle prices continued to harden late last week and over the weekend. Yesterday, factories were quoting 316c/kg for Rs and 302c/kg for Os.

A number of factories are paying a flat rate for mixed lots of Os and Rs in an attempt to buy cattle.

Teagasc beef specialist, Bernard Smyth, said the high numbers of cattle finished before Christmas indicates that cattle should be scarce for the spring.

However, he criticised factories for paying over the top for poorer-quality cattle on a flat rate for mixed grades

"It's not good for business when better quality cattle aren't being rewarded," he said.

The Teagasc man said bull finishing was in no way attractive this year.

"Feed costs were very high, so finished bulls will be significantly down this year.

"Farmers were not buying bulls to finish unless they had their own home-grown feeds, which gave them a cost advantage over farmers who had to buy in all their feed," he said. He added that if prices were to increase some more, farmers who had intended putting cattle back out to grass may decide to finish them in the shed instead.

"Prices are moving in the right direction but they still have a good bit to go before they will make enough to cover themselves.

"Farmers need a sustained and stable price to make finishing attractive.

"One-off price increases are not the solution.

"Beef finishers aren't the only cattle farmers being hit — the prices for weanlings were also back last year," he said.

Mr Smyth said that based on Teagasc budgets released in last autumn, farmers will need a minimum of 330c/kg if they are to make a profit on finishers this year.

"Only the very efficient producer will make a margin at that price," he said.

A massive surge in input prices will seriously erode cereal growers' margins this year.

While profits from the sector are expected to remain strong, returns from winter wheat could be back by as much as €200/ha on 2007, with those from spring barley down around €160/ha.

A combination of higher overall costs and an expected drop in harvest prices from last year's record levels will result in a significant reduction in margins, according to projections from Teagasc.

The hike in overall costs is being driven primarily by increased fertiliser prices. Teagasc's analysis suggests that fertiliser costs for some cereal crops will increase by as much as 50pc this year.

In the case of winter wheat, fertiliser bills are expected to jump to €339/ha, up from €227/ha in 2007. Meanwhile, the fertiliser outlay for spring barley is predicted to rise from €135/ha to €208/ha.

Quoted prices for all fertilisers are far higher this year. Urea is up from €276/t to over €382/t, the price of CAN has increased by over €60 to €270/t, while 18:6:12 is up by more than €100 to over €387/t.

Seed prices have also hardened. Teagasc's analysis shows that seed costs for winter wheat increased from €57/ha to €79/ha, and from €62/ha to €85/ha for spring barley.

Despite the sharp lift in input charges, Teagasc expects the tillage sector to remain profitable — albeit at a lower level than last year.

A gross margin of €594/ha is predicted for winter wheat. This is based on a harvest price of €170/t (excluding VAT) and a yield of 10t/ha. The gross margin for spring barley is calculated at €465/ha, at a harvest price of €160/t (excluding VAT) and a yield of 7.5t/ha.

These margins are well below 2007 levels, when record prices on world markets helped to drive profits, despite poor harvest conditions.

Average returns from winter wheat last year were around €800/ha, with spring barley margins coming in at €620-€650/ha.

While predicted profits for 2008 are €160-€200/ha off these levels, Jim O'Mahony of Teagasc pointed out that cereal returns remained very attractive.

"These figures represent a big increase on what growers were used to pre-2007," Mr O'Mahony said.

While the returns from cereals could not be compared with those that are currently available from dairying, Mr O'Mahony said they were very competitive relative to margins from drystock farming.

He also admitted that the projected harvest prices were at the conservative end of the spectrum and could be higher should global demand for grain hold.

On a cautionary note, however, Mr O'Mahony warned farmers to keep a tight rein on their overall costs.

"The big point we'd be making is that while the figures have improved on 2000-2006, there is no room for farmers to go wild. This is particularly the case with regard to con-acre prices."

Information regarding the complete costings and projected margins for all crops for the 2008 harvest will be available from Teagasc offices next week.

Jason Whooley

Provisional figures reveal that the Irish retail and foodservice market for seafood continued to show growth with domestic seafood sales to the retail sector increasing by 7% to €169 million, while sales to the foodservice sector increased 5% to €213 million.

BIM Chief Executive Jason Whooley said that much of the positive growth was due to improved innovation and greater marketing effort in the seafood sector.

“The seafood sector’s performance has been underpinned by good growth in the domestic market, achieved on the back of record consumption in 2006 and, while the growth in exports is modest, it is pleasing to see Irish seafood holding its own in traditional markets while also enjoying a significant increase in sales in non-traditional markets such as Asia and Africa,” Mr Whooley commented.

“I am aiming to promote a common approach among local authorities in dealing with farmers markets. A joined up approach across departments and agencies and dialogue and co-operation with local authority policy makers will strengthen the growth, viability and prosperity of the farmers' market system in Ireland”.

Minister Sargent said that experience of farmers' markets and farm shops suggests that they can provide wide-ranging benefits, both locally and regionally which can be measured socially, environmentally and economically. These include access to affordable in-season quality fresh food (organic and non-organic), more money circulating in local economies, the preservation and development of regional specialties, more choice for consumers and opportunities for producers as well as environmental benefits. Well-organised and consistent quality markets can, in addition, become a valuable tourist attraction, increasing footfall in towns to the benefit of all retailers.

In terms of direct economic benefit the Minister stated that recent research has shown that every €10 spent at a farmers' market results in a net income of €24 for the local community. “There is a spin-off for the local community and local retailers as a result of money being spent at farmers' markets. It has been estimated that the trade for other businesses increases by up to 30% when a farmers' market is run in a town”,the Minister said.

Officials at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food recently conducted a survey into all existing markets and the key findings were presented for the first time at the event. This information will assist in formulating Government policy at both local and national level.

When leasing, consider its effects on accounting, reporting, tax, and your cash flow. This section will give you a general overview. It does not replace professional advice. You may wish to consult your accounting and tax advisors before finalising a lease transaction to reap the maximum benefit and avoid complications.

· Direct Lease. You identify the machine (and negotiate the price) and arrange for the leasing company to buy it from the manufacturer (if new) or the previous owner (if used) to rent it to you.

· Sale-and-leaseback (also called purchase leaseback). You sell an asset you already own to the leasing company for fair market value or book written down value (whichever is less) and then lease it back.

In both cases, the lessor owns the asset, not you, and rents it to you. As with any other rental agreement, you return the asset at the end of the lease to the lessor. Some leases grant you an end-of-lease option to renew the lease at a minimal cost (secondary period) or to sell the asset to a third party as agent of the lessor.

Often equipment manufacturers themselves act as lessors or have an affiliated leasing company. This allows them to more easily help their customers finance transactions. The other two groups of lessors are banks and independent leasing companies.

· Finance Leasing (Full Payout Lease). You effectively acquire all financial benefits and risks without actually acquiring legal title. The leasing rate is computed to collect the full value of the asset (plus finance charges) during the contract period. At the end of the lease, the asset is sold to a third party and you can receive a share of the sale proceeds (if the lease is not being extended). Generally, you will not be able to become the owner of the asset at any time – unless a private arrangement is made with the third party. However, you usually have the option to extend your lease and as you will have paid for almost the full value during your initial lease period, the rental payments for subsequent periods will be minimal. And are often known as secondary leasing.

· Operating Lease. Often with a shorter time frame than financial leasing (always significantly shorter than the working life of the asset), operating leasing is more like a regular rental. The lessor expects to be able to either sell the asset in the second-hand market or to lease it again and will therefore not need to recover the total asset value through lease payments. There may be an option to extend the leasing period at the end (this negotiation can only take place at the end of the initial rental period). As with finance leases, you will not be able to become owner of the asset at any time but, contrary to financial leases, you will not share in the sale proceeds.

· Contract Hire. A form of operating lease (often used with cars and other vehicles) that includes a number of additional services such as maintenance, management or replacement if asset is in repair.

· Hire Purchase. This is an agreement for the hiring of an asset with an option to purchase. The legal title will pass to you when all payments have been made. The term of a hire purchase must be significantly shorter than the working life of the asset. You are able to claim capital allowances as if you had purchased the asset outright.

Often lessee’s are confused about what happens at the end of contract.

At the end of the lease term, you have various options. Lease contracts can stipulate that you

· return the asset;
· have the right to act as an agent to sell the asset to an independent third party; and/or
· can renew the contract or enter into secondary periods.

It is important for you to anticipate your future needs as each option has its advantages and disadvantages and will affect your monthly payments.
Seek the assistance of a professional advisor if you feel you need help!

Getting the right finance.

All types of financing offer different advantages and it is important that you assess your circumstances and needs before committing to a specific finance contract. Click here for a brief comparison. For example,  

If you want to own the asset straight away, an outright purchase (cash or loan/overdraft) might be appropriate;

If you may want to own the asset at some point in time and want to take advantage of instalment payments, hire purchase might be the best option;

If you do not want to own the asset at all but require it for most of its useful life, consider a financial lease; and

If you require the asset for a period of time significantly shorter than the useful life of it, consider an operating lease

It had to happen. With oil hitting and hovering around $100 dollars the whole world is now talking and thinking about oil. So how dependent are we on it, how much is there really left and what are we doing to adapting to a world with less oil?

It is thought that we are more efficient and less dependent on oil than we were in the bad old days of the 1970s. There are a number of problems with this thesis. Firstly, there is the fact that we are a far more globalised economy than we were back then. Since then, national economies have been deregulated and trade liberalised, so that now, many products are made up from a multitude of interconnected and intercontinental components. And plastic has, of course gone forth and multiplied.

Laptops, disposable containers, toys, toothbrushes, cameras, the list of personalised products goes on. But then, the functioning of many aspects of the economy is dependent too: medicines, food production and transport, are all either quite literally fuelled by or dependent upon oil.

Take food: Fertilizer production and transportation is heavily oil dependent. Prices are rising – Nitrogen (made by oil at present) is up 50%, Phospate (also a finite resource) is up 67% – and the consumer is starting to experience this.

With globalisation has come global sourcing of foods and agri-food inputs; we in Ireland have a very weak food producing infrastructure, once we start to consider foods other than meat and milk. Even these depend on winter feeds which are heavy oil users, both in production and transport.

According to the junior minister with responsibility in the area, Trevor Sargent, there are less than a dozen large scale vegetable producers left in Ireland at present.

Just-in-time deliveries by road mean that supermarkets have jettisoned their storage spaces and instead opted for storing food in refrigerated trucks on the roads. Food processing is ever-increasing too – both involve more oil.

So, seeing as we are so dependent on it, how much oil is left then? That depends upon how you measure it. For example, optimists suggest that there are bound to be reserves. According to the US based Cambridge Energy Research Associates:

“Those who believe a peak is imminent tend to consider only proven remaining reserves of conventional oil, which they currently estimate at about 1.2 trillion barrels…this is a pessimistic estimate because it excludes the enormous contribution likely from probable and possible resources, those yet to be found.”

Then go on: “the global inventory is some 4.8 trillion barrels, of which about 1.08 trillion barrels have been produced, leaving 3.72 trillion conventional and unconventional barrels, an order of magnitude that will allow productive capacity to continue to expand well into this century.”

Pessimists suggest that these reserves, should they be found, will be too difficult and costly to extract. They suggest that this may already be the case for reserves in deep water, the artic, extra heavy, oil shale and enhanced recovery oils. The crux of the matter is whether all the known reserves can be found, processed and delivered to market in time. Proponents of the Peak Oil theory suggest that we are already at the peak oil point, where accessible reserves will be smaller than what’s been extracted. They suggest that we need to make plans urgently to deal with energy decent, or powerdown.

So what is Ireland doing about it? Oil consumption per capita has risen 50% over the last 15 years, while our dependence on imported oil and gas stands at 85%. According to an Amarach consulting report from 2006, services and manufacturing will mostly be affected indirectly by peak oil in the short term, whereas residential and agricultural sectors are more vulnerable. They suggest that our mitigation strategies are vital.

The new Energy Minister, Eamon Ryan has begun to put some mitigating factors into place: these include funding for renewables research, the smart electricity metering programme for houses which will be rolled out in April, and improved north south energy co-operation. A National Energy Efficiency Action Plan is being finalised at present, which according to the Minister, “will allow us to save €1.7 billion or 3 million tonnes of oil every year.”

Minister Ryan states that “We are also committed to making energy efficiency savings of 20% by 2020. The public sector will have to make energy savings of 33% by this date.”

Building energy efficiency standards have also been introduced for all new houses by Environment Minister John Gormley.

Some parts of Ireland have taken matters into their own hands, most notably Kinsale and north Tipperary, in particular the town of Cloughjordan.

In Kinsale, students from the 2 year permaculture course in the local college along with their then teacher, Rob Hopkins, designed an energy decent plan, which has received some funding from the local council. The plan goes through all the key aspects of socio-economic and cultural life in Kinsale, and produces a road map for how to reduce energy use.

“We didn’t think it was going to be that big a deal, but the plan has been downloaded over 5000 times around the world” according to Klaus Harvey, who sits on the Steering Committee of Transition Towns Kinsale. This plan has become an intergal part of what has become the known as the transition towns movement. For Kinsale, food, education, housing, economy and livelihoods, health, tourism, transport, waste, energy and marine resources are all examined and mapped out in energy decent terms.

In north Tipperary, very ambitious plans are afoot. A 130 house ecovillage is being constructed at present, adjacent to the local village of Cloughjordan. According to Duncan Martin, of the ecovillage’s energy, waste and water subcommittee, “The houses will be well insulated and designed to make best use of the sun's heat”. There is an ecological charter which sets out the standard which the house must meet.

He goes on: “all our space heating and hot water will come from renewable sources. Additional heating will be provided by a district heating system. This will circulate hot water to every house from a central array of solar panels, backed up by two wood-chip boilers. The woodchip will come from local forestry wastes, so we will be independent of imported fossil fuels”.

And it’s not just the ecovillage itself. “The ecovillage is a partner in a European project called SERVE - Sustainable Energy for the Rural Village Environment. This is providing over €2 million in funding for the area around Cloughjordan to improve energy efficiency in existing houses and expand the use of renewable energy. This will cover such additions as more insulation, double glazing, solar panels, wood pellet boilers and better central heating controls”.

In total, along with the ecovillage itself, 900 houses in north Tipperary villages will benefit from the SERVE project.

Is it all enough? In the final analysis that depends upon whether we resist or embrace change.

Michael Walsh, spokesman for the Department for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (DAF), denied that the move was a reaction to recent disease issues in the country or to a low level take-up of passports since the legislation was introduced in 2005. But he said the government wanted to let people know it would "come down heavy" on those not complying with the law.

"We're putting the onus on those selling animals to ensure horses going through their yards and sales have the relevant paperwork," said Mr Walsh. "We want people to be compliant and we're giving them an extra opportunity to do so."

As an incentive to owners to register their animals, DAF has negotiated with vets and two of the six passport issuing organisations (PIOs) in Ireland — the Irish Horse Board and the Irish Piebald and Skewbald Association — to offer reduced fees for their services during January and February.

Veterinary Ireland (VI), a voluntary organisation to which approximately half the vets there belong, is encouraging them to reduce their fees by 20% for completing passports.

VI's Peter Bishton said: "We can't impose anything on our members, but we are trying to assist with the passport scheme."

Laura Whelan of the Irish Horse Board said: "DAF asked us late last year to reduce the cost of obtaining a passport for a non-pedigree [non pure-bred] animal to ensure full compliance. No one has an excuse not to register their horse or pony."

Under EU legislation, since 2005 all horses, ponies, donkeys, zebras and mules must have a passport. Ireland has no figure on the number of passports issued.

"We are collating this information centrally at the moment," said Mr Walsh.

Stuart Clarke of Cavan horse sales told Horse and Hound magazine: "More horses are coming through with

passports but we won't be able to accept any entries without one now. It's a little bit of extra work but a good thing in the long term."

Most of the benefit went to the dairy sector, and despite the dreadful summer the output value of grain rose by 73%.

However, difficulties were experience by farmers in the beef, sheep and pig sectors.

The good news for the farming sector resulted in higher prices for consumers.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food & Fisheries, Mary Coughlan, said she expects this year to be another positive year for farming generally, and did not foresee a 'massive' increase in food prices.

Ms Coughlan expressed relief that neither bluetongue, bird flu nor foot & mouth disease arrived on this island, but she warned that everyone would have to remain on alert against these viruses again next year.

The Minister said one of the biggest challenges this year would be the 'health check' review of the Common Agricultural Policy.