Vol. 515 No. 1
108 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development if he will make the REP scheme farmer training courses mandatory and ongoing in view of the fact only 14,637 out of approximately 50,000 REP scheme farmers had completed the course by March 1999. [5469/00]
REPS training courses are already available on an ongoing basis and organised at local venues around the country. My Department strongly recommends that all REPS participants undertake the course and mandatory attendance at such a course may be specified in an applicant's own agri-environmental plan. My Department intends to make attendance at an approved training course mandatory for all participants under the new scheme to be launched later this year.
109 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development if he will respond to criticism that the REP scheme farmer training courses do not sufficiently reflect the habitat management measures of the scheme. [5470/00]
The REPS training courses are approved by my Department and must conform to a syllabus which sets out minimum requirements with regard to the different aspects of the scheme, including those measures relating to habitat management.
The content of training courses is being reviewed in the context of the new scheme to be launched later this year.
110 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development if he will reform the REP scheme to involve support and motivation visits instead of mere compliance inspections similar but broader in application to the environmentally sensitive areas scheme in Northern Ireland in view of the fact that sustainable farming practice initiatives are prone to failure without comprehensive compliance monitoring programmes. [5471/00]
Proposals for a new rural environmental protection scheme have been submitted to the European Commission as part of a draft rural development plan for the period 2000-2006. A key element of any new scheme will be a requirement for all participants to attend a training course to ensure they fully understand the objectives of the scheme and the part that each individual plays in achieving these objectives. Planners will also be instructed as to the importance of explaining fully the scheme requirements to prospective applicants.
A comprehensive compliance and monitoring programme is in place to ensure participants fulfil their obligations under the scheme. The effectiveness of the introduction of a schedule of penalties in 1997 is evidenced by the declining proportion of checks that result in penalisation.
Any individual participants who require further information or clarification on any aspect of the scheme are encouraged to contact the REPS section of my Department.
111 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development if he will institute pre-plan audits and tiered payments to discourage farmers from removing habitat features prior to REP scheme applications. [5472/00]
The existing rural environmental protection scheme is now closed to new applicants and a new scheme is awaiting approval by the European Commission under Regulation 1257/1999.
Procedures will be put in place to record all relevant details of individual farms as they stand on the date of application to join the new scheme. This information will form baseline data essential for future monitoring and evaluation.
The introduction of a tiered payment system is not envisaged, as it is a basic requirement of the scheme that habitats be maintained. Under the scheme to date, where it has been established that a habitat was removed prior to an application being made to join the scheme such applications were either refused or approved on condition that the habitat be restored or a new habitat be created to maintain the environmental integrity of the scheme.
112 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development if he will reform the feature of the REP scheme whereby farmers outside of sensitive areas receive the same payment, regardless of habitat quality and irrespective of the differing amounts of work involved. [5473/00]
The rural environment protection scheme is a broadbased scheme and the preservation of habitats is mandatory for all participants. Given that the existing scheme has some 44,000 participants whose holdings vary widely, the introduction of differing rates of payment for the various habitat types and the differing amounts of work involved would be impractical and potentially invidious to administer and implement. The introduction of such a system could also give the wrong impression that some types of habitat were more important than others. It is my view that equal environmental importance attaches to the preser vation of all habitats and accordingly their preservation under the REP scheme is mandatory.
While it is accepted that compliance with the conditions of the scheme may involve different amounts of work for different participants, this was taken into consideration when preparing a detailed analysis as required by the EU Commission of the justification for the different levels of payment under the scheme.
113 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development his response to the recommendation in his Department's evaluation report of July 1999 that the REP scheme should be changed to attract more small and large intensive farms. [5474/00]
Proposals for a new rural environmental protection scheme have been submitted to the European Commission as part of a draft rural development plan for the period 2000-2006. These proposals, which are subject to the approval of the Commission, include a provision for a higher rate of payment per hectare for smaller holdings not exceeding 20 hectares in total area. This proposal takes account of the recommendation in the evaluation report of July 1999, and is an effort to increase uptake of smaller holdings.
As regards larger intensive farmers, the evaluation report of July 1999 referred to the option of relaxing nutrient guidelines in an effort to make the scheme more attractive to such producers. The report concluded that this would be regressive in environmental terms, however, as one of the objectives of the REP scheme is to promote the production of quality food in an extensive and environmentally friendly manner and such a course of action would undermine the message of environmentally friendly management that REPS is intended to promote.
To make full participation in REPS financially attractive to larger intensive farmers, it is likely that basic rates of payment would have to be increased significantly. The funding available precludes this. In an effort to maximise the area of environmentally sensitive land farmed to the REPS specification, however, a new proposal has been included in the programme submitted to the Commission. This proposal is that farmers who have target area land but do not wish to participate in the general REPS programme may opt for payment on the target land area only, up to a maximum eligible area for payment of ten hectares, on condition that they implement a nutrient management plan in accordance with the Code of Good Agricultural Practice to Protect Waters from Nitrates on the entire holding.
114 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development his response to the failure of his Department's REP scheme evaluation report of July 1999 to make a distinction between a baseline of good agricul tural farming, which is applicable to all farmers, and the REP scheme as an agri-environment regulation designed to deliver environmental benefits beyond a baseline of standard farming practice. [5475/00]
The objectives of the evaluation report were to determine the environmental, agricultural and socio-economic impacts of the REP scheme. REPS is a voluntary scheme and the measures included are over and above what is required of all farmers under general legislative or regulatory provisions.
General recommendation four of the evaluation report recognises the fact that monitoring and evaluation of agri-environmental programmes is fraught with difficulty and establishes that the Department has taken, and continues to take, steps to improve the evaluative dimensions of the scheme. The recommendation that the issue be systematically addressed under any successor scheme will be acted on by the Department.
115 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development if he will carry out biodiversity baseline research to determine the level of nature conservation value on REP scheme farms before they join the scheme in order that a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation programme can be established. [5476/00]
Proposals for a new rural environmental protection scheme have been submitted to the EU Commission as part of a draft rural development plan for the period 2000-2006. When a new scheme is approved by the Commission, procedures will be put in place to record all relevant details of individual farms as they stand on the date of application to join the scheme. This information will form baseline data essential for future monitoring and evaluation.
Where all or part of the lands farmed are in one or more of the following target areas, natural heritage areas proposed or designated by the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, farmland-based special areas of conservation designated under Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of Natural Habitats or Special Protection Areas designated under Council Directive 79/409/EEC on the protection of wild birds, participants must comply with the farming conditions for the specific habitat. In the absence of farming conditions for specific habitat types, planners must consult Dúchas to determine the appropriate farming conditions to be included in the farm plan.
Where commonage land is involved the commonage framework plan will set the conditions which must be complied with.
