An application under the Agri-Environment Options Scheme from the person named was received in my Department on 7 December 2012. The process of ranking and selecting all AEOS applicants was clearly set out in the scheme documentation. Acceptance into the scheme was established using the pre-determined selection criteria as follows:
1. farmers in the Boora region of Co. Offaly who chose Wild Bird Cover Option B (Grey Partridge) as one of their selected options;
2. farmers with a minimum of 0.5 hectares of designated land;
3. farm partnerships;
4. farmers who previously participated in REPS commencing with smallest farms; and
5. others based on farm size (again favouring smaller holdings).
The person named was a previous participant in REPS. Based on the funding available, farmers in category 4 with 22.06 hectares of utilisable agricultural area and below were successful. As the farm size of the person named is 23.20, the application was unsuccessful. On 27 May 2013, a letter issued to the person named informing him that he was not successful and setting out the reasons.