Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 11 Mar 1997

Vol. 476 No. 2

Adjournment Debate. - REPS Planners.

Mr. T. Foxe

I appreciate the time to say a few words on a topic which is important to the farming community, 48 young agricultural science graduates and 12 young environmental science graduates. Two weeks ago those 60 people took a planning course in Ennis under the aegis of the rural environmental protection scheme.

Over the past few years the European Union, the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and others have become very conscious of the environment. As a result the REPS was introduced. Under that scheme farmers follow a plan for a five year period during which they clear up the lake shores and rivers on their lands, trim hedges and so on. More importantly, they must provide accommodation for their stock as well as for fodder, effluent and slurry and there is a definite upper limit to the amount of fertiliser and lime that can be spread on their land. Each year during the five year period the farmer receives a bonus for his work in this regard, but as the cost of providing the accommodation could be between £20,000 and £45,000, the bonus is well earned. The down side of REPS is that a farmer may not carry more than one livestock unit per one and a quarter acres of land, thus reducing meat production. While this may be acceptable to those in the well fed part of the world, those who are starving would not hold a similar view.

Those are the tasks of the people who draw up REPS plans. Irrespective of how highly qualified a graduate is, I accept that he or she would require in-service training for two or three months to be able to carry out those tasks, but we are talking about highly intelligent agricultural and environmental scientists. Until two years ago those who completed the course in Ennis were deemed planners under the REPS and could open planning agencies. However, those who have just completed the course were told they would have to spend a further two years doing in-service training. A planner with his or her own agency would be eligible to give 20 hour courses to young farmers. These courses are relatively lucrative and it is a shame that such highly qualified people are debarred from holding them.

The Minister is a practical individual, so I appeal to him to review the terms under which these planners are granted full planning permission and the authority to open their own agencies.

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (Mr. Deenihan)

I am glad Deputy Foxe raised this matter because it provides me with an opportunity to clarify a number of issues which have arisen in recent weeks. My Department approves planners and planning agencies whose function it is to draw up five year plans for farmers based on the Department's agri-environmental specifications and the scheme conditions. Planners have a pivotal role in setting out the practices to be followed by the farmer to ensure that the objectives of the scheme are achieved.

I have for some time been concerned to upgrade the procedures relating to approved REPS planners in light of experience in the operation of REPS over the past two to three years. Existing approved planners are being subjected to increased scrutiny, while the experience of newly approved planners will be established over a period. Following completion of a two year period of satisfactory REPS planning, or the submission to my Department of 50 satisfactory plans, newly approved planners will be registered as approved REPS planning agencies. At that stage, as well as preparing REPS plans, they will be authorised to oversee their preparation by being permitted to operate as REPS planning agencies.

I will outline the improved arrangements for new REPS planners, put in place in conjunction with a REPS appreciation course held in Ennis from 19 to 21 February. Each individual will be listed as an approved planner after three plans have been completed to the satisfaction of the Department. The three plans submitted by each will be individually checked and responded to by the Department. Each of these three plans must be officially approved by the Department and following such approval, each planner will be included in the Department's list of approved planners.

After two years of satisfactory planning a planner may be registered as an approved planning agency, following formal application to the Department. Alternatively, such approval may be given if 50 plans have been submitted to the satisfaction of the Department. Planners may advertise for business when they have been approved by the Department following the submission of a satisfactory third plan. An approved planner may, working with another approved planner, run a REPS 20 hour education course subject to the conditions laid down for running such courses. Planners are required to inform my Department without delay if they become unable to comply with their undertakings or fulfil all or any of the requirements listed for the purposes of REPS.

In addition to the 60 new planners trained last month, we already have 246 private planning agencies, many of which employ several planners. Additionally, Teagasc employs 351 planners. There is, therefore, no scarcity of REPS planners. I am not aware of any farmers having difficulties in getting access to planners to enable them to participate in REPS. Nonetheless, it is my Department's intention to have another REPS appreciation course before June of this year, after which we expect to add up to 50 more planners to our approved list of planners.

In the circumstances it is clear that my Department's approach to the approval of new REPS planners is fair and equitable. Equally importantly, it will ensure that farmers will have access to an increased pool of fully qualified planners who, after a reasonable period acting alone under the supervision of my Department, can be registered as a planning agency.