Michael Ring
Question:5 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will exempt farmers with commonage from cross compliance regulations and allow them to join REPS without owning ten acres of private land. [5349/98]
Other Questions. - Rural Environment Protection Scheme.
The introduction of cross compliance was recommended by an independent report and was agreed by the Government in early 1997. Cross compliance will be confined to overgrazed commonages, including those overgrazed commonages in special areas of conservation and special protection areas. The implementation of cross compliance is dependent upon the agreement of a revised REPS compensation package for farmers who have lands in special areas of conservation or special protection areas. My Department issued revised conditions on 10 December 1997 to exclude leased commonage and grazing rights from eligibility for payment under the REPS scheme and to require intending participants with owned commonage to be farming a minimum of ten acres of privately held land.
Detailed discussions have been taking place with the European Commission on the revised REPS/SAC package, including the matter of the minimum area of private land for applicants with commonage land. Agreement on the new package is critical for the eligibility of commonage lands for REPS payment purposes and every effort is being made to bring the discussions to a successful and speedy conclusion. Farmers who may be unable to join the REPS scheme can avail of the national scheme which is being operated by the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands.
For the information of the House, the time for Priority Questions is exhausted and this question is being taken in ordinary time.
Will the Minister of State rescind the ten acre rule immediately? This rule affects many farmers in areas in the west such as Connemara, Achill and north County Mayo. Of 200 farmers in the Achill area, 80 per cent will be affected by the new ruling. The average size of a farm in the Achill area is 3.5 acres. A proportion of the land in the area is held in leased commonage and turbary rights must also be taken into consideration. Is the Department seriously considering changing this rule? There have been statements from Fianna Fáil politicians indicating that the Minister of State is about to change it.
I tabled a number of questions in recent weeks on this issue and was informed about the Minister of State's ongoing discussions with Europe. When does he hope to be in a position to change the cross compliance rule? A deal was agreed with the IFA in February of last year in respect of NHAs and SACs? When will farmers obtain payment from the provisions of that deal?
I hope discussions with the European Commission will be completed in the coming weeks. However, these discussions are detailed and are particularly concerned with commonage because the voluntary REPS scheme for the destocking of commonage areas was completely unsuccessful. The Commission requires that the new package will be a strong one. As Members are aware, Europe is giving increasing consideration to the environmental side of farming. I hope the discussions will be completed as soon as possible. However, negotiations are ongoing and they are poised at a particularly tense stage.
With regard to the Deputy's question on the deal with the IFA, payment will be made to farmers when negotiations with farmers and unions on agreements and compliance have been completed.
I am aware this matter involves an overall package which must be approved by Europe. However, is it not possible to rescind the ten acre rule — which was originally put in place by the Government — so that the farmers in question can take part in REP schemes without affecting their headage and premia payments? Is it not possible to remove the decision on the ten acre rule from the overall package? Is the Government not in a position to rescind it?
As the Deputy is aware, Ireland is a member of the European Union which is responsible for funding this project. Therefore, we must consult the Commission and obtain its permission and agreement in respect of these matters. The Commission is being strict and stringent on the new package because of the failure of the voluntary scheme. It is particularly concerned about commonage land which is devoid of vegetation and on which landslides, falls, etc., have occurred. We must consider the concept that such areas are owned by all the people of Europe who must be allowed to enjoy them rather than see them destroyed.
If the Minister of State does not change the rule, the farmers, not the vegetation, will disappear. REPS planners in Connemara, south Mayo and west Mayo have received very few new files in the past three months as a result of the cross compliance rule. What is the point in discussing the preservation of special areas of conservation under the REPS scheme, which was originally designed to make the country environmentally friendly? The Minister of State has introduced a scheme which has the opposite effect?
What is the thinking behind the ten acre rule? Officials of the Departments of Agriculture and Food and Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands obviously believe it is a good yardstick to use. However, it is crazy and it has destroyed a good scheme. I put it to the Minister of State that the rule has nothing to do with Europe. It was cooked up by the authorities in Ireland and it should be changed as soon as possible.
I accept the Minister of State's assertion about the voluntary scheme. The numbers of sheep grazing on the hills must be reduced.
Farmers in those areas will do that. However, many small sheep farmers in those areas who have cattle will have to get rid of them because they cannot fence the rivers and valleys adjoining their holdings. People will be deprived of an income based on an environmentally sensitive scheme which we had hoped would protect the areas.
It was in October 1996 that the then Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry, Deputy Yates, approved a proposal for cross compliance to be introduced for farmers——
The ten acre provision was not included.
——with a package to compensate farmers for restrictive farming conditions in the special areas at that time, overgrazed areas. One of the reasons was that the voluntary REPS did not work. In negotiations on the conditions to be applied in designated environmental areas, NHAs and SACs, the farm bodies and planners agreed that participation in REPS should not be allowed to negate the benefits of the scheme in the overgrazed areas. The then Minister also agreed with the recommendation of the Kearney report on headage that participation in REPS would be a qualifying factor for headage payments. Furthermore, he also agreed for premia payments——
No one took any notice of him.
It is the Deputy who says that. The Minister at the time agreed.
The Minister of State should play his own game and not Professor Kearney's. He is trying to blame someone else.
I am not. I am telling the House what the previous Minister agreed to. It is in writing. There was a debate this morning on background information and I am giving it to the House.
I saw the file before the Minister of State.
The Deputy must have better eyesight than I do.
There are about 10,000 farmers in this area and about 1,000 have overgrazed commonages. However, there were people leasing commonage who were not farmers. They were using the scheme. There were also people who were not full-time farmers who were using two schemes, one in Connemara and another in other areas of County Galway, and drawing a double benefit. That is what has caused the problem.
Discussions are proceeding and it is in small farmers' interests that we ensure genuine applications get REPS funds at the full level.
About three weeks ago I raised the issue of qualification for REPS on the Adjournment and the Minister for Finance replied to the matter. I raised the anomaly whereby approximately 300 hill sheep farmers in County Wicklow have not joined the scheme. They cannot include their grazing rights because in the Land Acts 1870 to 1939 the fee simple was not transferred to them. The Minister for Finance said in his reply to me that the Department of Agriculture and Food officials were examining the matter. Has there been any progress on the matter to date?
Discussions on that matter are ongoing. There is a similar problem in my constituency with Slievenamon. We are looking at all the areas to see what can be done. County Wicklow has the lowest take up of REPS in the country which is a pity for such a beautiful county.
It is due to the anomaly I mentioned that County Wicklow has the lowest take up. The matter should be cleared up as soon as possible.
It is proposed to give £77 per acre under the package of improved REPS measures for SAC areas. When is that package expected to get the go ahead from Brussels? What are the main points of contention between the Department and the EU Commission with regard to the improved REPS package for SAC areas? If the Minister of State does not have the information with him I would be grateful if he could forward it to me.
The proposal is for the payment of £15 per acre on top of the basic REPS payment, £7.50 per acre for areas with between 101 and 200 acres and £5 an acre for areas between 201 and 300 acres. That measure will apply for 15 years. The main problem for the EU is with commonage. In addition to cross compliance the EU is insisting on drawing up a framework plan for designating overgrazed commonages. That will be difficult of itself because opinions differ. However, it wants to ensure that stock numbers are compatible with environmental sustainability, that the damaged areas will be allowed to recover and that the people are compensated properly. The payments are quite good for those areas.
With regard to leased commonage, 89 farmers were involved, 66 of whom were from County Mayo. It was announced that these farmers would be paid. To date five of the 66 farmers from County Mayo have been paid. I know the Minister of State is committed to this issue but are the departmental officials committed to paying these farmers? Why is it taking so long? It is a problem that affects the Minister of State's county. When will the farmers in County Mayo be paid?
I assure the Deputy that the officials are working hard on this matter and are committed to get the best deal possible for the farmers. There is a genuine feeling that if their stocking rate is to be reduced the money should be paid. I commend the officials for their work on this issue.
The main problems are with the 100 per cent leased commonage and the ten acre rule. There was also a problem with an audit visit that was carried out. A farmer was asked what he was doing on the commonage now that he was not doing five years before and he replied that he was doing nothing differently. That is what has caused these problems with the commonage. Not only does the Commission feel that the voluntary scheme was a failure but it feels that there might not be compliance under the new measures. The difficulty lies in persuading the Commission that this will work. We must take into account the needs of people who do not have thousands of sheep.