Solar and wind developers are approaching Irish farmers in numbers, and the money on offer can transform a farm’s finances. But the documents are among the longest and most one-sided a landowner will ever be asked to sign: multi-decade terms, wide easements, developer-friendly assignment rights and obligations that outlive the people signing them. We act for landowners — never developers — reviewing and negotiating options, leases and easements before signature.
Mary Molloy Solicitors are solicitors, not tax advisors. Tax information on this page is general in nature. You should obtain advice from a qualified tax advisor or accountant on your specific circumstances; we regularly work alongside clients’ accountants when implementing farm transfers.
What We Review and Negotiate
- Option agreements: option period and fees, extension rights, exclusivity, and the exact form of lease you are pre-committing to.
- Lease terms: rent and review mechanics (fixed, indexed or revenue-linked), term and extensions, and what land is actually demised as against retained.
- Easements and access: cable routes, access roads and grid infrastructure over retained lands — drafted tightly, not “such rights as the developer may require”.
- Reinstatement: decommissioning obligations with real security behind them.
- Farm and family consequences: continued grazing rights under panels where agreed, scheme and entitlement effects, mortgage consents, and — critically — how the lease interacts with the succession plan and the reliefs your accountant is planning around.
The Succession Blind Spot
The most common gap we see: a lease negotiated purely as an income deal, with nobody asking what it does to the transfer of the farm in ten years’ time. Land under renewable energy agreements can be treated differently for reliefs, and a 30-year lease shapes what a successor actually inherits. Bring the succession question into the negotiation from day one — it is much easier to fix before signature. Start with what to check before signing a solar option.
Been Approached by a Developer?
Send us the option agreement before you sign it. That is the moment your leverage is highest.
Call 01 5827148