Vol. 534 No. 5
92 Mr. Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development the position regarding destocking by hill sheep farmers in the six western counties; his views on whether the method of dealing with this is fair and equitable; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11105/01]
Hill sheep farmers in the six western counties of Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Mayo, Galway and Kerry who use commonage were required to destock by 30% in compliance with the conditions of the interim national commonage framework plan. The interim national commonage framework plan was implemented in advance of the preparation of framework plans that will set the actual stocking rates to apply on individual commonages. Work on preparation of these framework plans is now at an advanced stage. When these plans are available, farmers may opt either to participate in REPS and avail of the relevant payments, in which case the stocking requirements set out in the commonage framework plan will be integrated into the REPS plan, or to opt for compensation under a national scheme to be implemented by the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands. I understand the European Commission is considering proposals for this scheme at present.
It is relevant to recall the context in which limits on stock levels had to be set. High stocking levels had caused ecological damage to upland areas and the problem was especially acute on commonage land. This situation threatened the continued availability of EU aid on all commonage land. An agreement negotiated with the European Commission in 1998 led to the revision of the Rural Environmental Protection Scheme to include a new supplementary measure A, in the new REP scheme this is known as measure A. Substantial payment rates of up to £77 per acre were approved under this measure on the basis that more stringent farming conditions would apply on target area land, including commonage, with stock reduction a key requirement for payment of aid. This agreement was negotiated in consultation with the farming organisations. The individual framework plans will take full account of the state of each commonage in establishing the level of destocking required to enable satisfactory recovery of vegetation.
