Ireland South MEP Michael McNamara is proposing a change to the current stamp duty regime which would deter those building up huge land banks.

He has has written to Minister for Finance Jack Chambers calling for the change to come in this year's budget, similar to that made in 2021 in relation to bulk buyers of residential property.

The proposal would apply to the acquisition of parcels of land over a five-year period with a combined area of greater than 200ha or any land acquisition by persons who already own, directly or indirectly, 400ha of land and that the stamp duty rate in respect of such transactions be set at 20%.

The rate proposed, he said, is on the basis that this was the rate recently suggested by Minister of State at the Department of Finance Neale Richmond TD as the appropriate level at which to set the stamp duty for bulk buys of residential properties by so-called vulture funds.

McNamara noted that similar pejorative language is not used in respect of those who are accumulating huge land banks in parts of the State, even though it is just as damaging to the social fabric of Irish life.

Appropriate thresholds

"Where the land purchased or owned is mountain land, located in the Burren, etc, it is proposed that more appropriate thresholds could be set by the minister to ensure that land parcels of similar value, and their owners, be treated equally," he said.

He noted how European law does not pose a bar to such proposals and pointed to examples in Hungary and France where a farmer may not acquire more than 300 hectares at one time and may not have more than 1,200 hectares in total.

He also referred the finance minister to the European Commission’s 'Interpretative Communication on the Acquisition of Farmland and European Union Law' (2017), where it noted that national land laws restricting the free movement of capital have been challenged before national courts and the Court of Justice of the European Union has recognised the specific nature of agricultural land and that restrictions to investment in agricultural land such as to prevent land speculation and to preserve a traditional form of farming of agricultural land by means of owner-occupancy were found to be justified.

"The acquisition of land is becoming increasingly difficult for farmers across the State, with a worrying increase in concentration of land ownership in parts of the state," he told Minister Chambers in a letter.