The Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, stated how important the farming and agri-food sector is to the economy when he announced Budget 2016.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has been allocated €1.3 billion in Budget 2016.

The stock relief schemes currently available to farmers have been extended for a further three years by Minister Noonan.

To support the successful transfer of land from one generation to the next, the Minister of Finance proposed the introduction of a €5,000 tax credit for five years.

Here’s what the farming groups thought of Budget 2016: