The Irish Farmers' Association president, Mr Tom Parlon, last night welcomed the provisions in the Budget which complemented the agreement the IFA recently negotiated with the Government for farmers who will lose their land due to road building.
While not actually contained in the text of the Budget, the capital gains tax situation in relation to Compulsory Purchase Order compensation will cover elements of the deal which should mean an acceptance of the package by farmers, said Mr Parlon.
He said the elements involved would give tax relief to farmers who had leased their land within five years of receiving a CPO on their lands.
The roll-over relief would allow a land-owner to reinvest CPO compensation back into land, buildings, plant or machinery or goodwill of any trade within a total 10-year period, commencing two years before and ending eight years after the CPO.
He said land-owners who were over 55-years-old could receive up to £375,000 in CPO compensation without any liability to tax, subject to certain conditions.
Mr Parlon said that under the new provisions, no liability to pay CGT will now arise until a landowner has received compensation for the land acquired for road development.
Both Mr Parlon and the president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association, Mr Pat O'Rourke, were highly critical of the decision to increase the PAYE allowance, as this discriminated against self-employed tax-payers.
Mr O'Rourke said the increase was "a most shocking insult to farm families" as a husband and wife working together on a farm and paying tax would face a tax bill of £1,040 more than a couple on the same level of income who paid PAYE.
He said this was "gross discrimination".
Mr Parlon said it was inequitable, and flew in the face of social partnership.
Mr O'Rourke also hit out at the increase in fuel costs.
These, combined with the increase in the VAT rate by 1 per cent on medicines, machinery and most building materials, would increase the cost of farming, he said.
He said the Budget was negative from the point of view of farmers and he called on rural TDS not to approve the income tax measures.
The president of ICOS, the umbrella body for Irish co-operatives, Mr Dessie Boylan, said agriculture was notable by its absence in this year's Budget.
He said that despite a difficult year for the sector because of foot-and-mouth disease, the Minister had done nothing to help livestock marts or co-operatives which had suffered a great deal over the period.
"The Minister has chosen to dramatically reduce the level of betting tax, reducing the tax take based on last year's figures by an estimated €29 million - yet did not allow any relief on the real and substantial loss of €2 million suffered by livestock marts during the four months they were unable to trade in 2001 - a small figure by comparison," he said.
"This is regretful and we urge the Government to reconsider waiving Government taxes and other charges on co-ops to ensure their survival to next year's Budget," he added.
On VAT increases, he said ICOS strongly disagreed with the Minister's comments that the 1 per cent reduction in VAT last year was not passed on to the consumer.
Most charges for services, including those provided by ICOS members, are charged net of VAT, therefore the return to the 21 per cent rate would increase the real cost of business by 1 per cent.
"In a low-margin industry such as ours, this will have a negative impact on our members," he concluded.