Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 July 2013
613. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if a decision on an application for an agri-environment options scheme will be reviewed in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36004/13]
View answerAn application under the Agri-Environment Options Scheme from the person named was received in my Department on 29th November 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 53.10, the application was unsuccessful. On 27th May 2013, a letter issued to the person named informing him that he was not successful and setting out the reasons. This letter also notified him of a right of appeal within 21 working days but there is no record of any appeal having been received in my Department.
