Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 September 2013
1217. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will clarify REPS entitlement in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38312/13]
View answerThe person named commenced REPS 3 in December 2006 and received payments for the full six years of their contract. The contract under REPS 3 was completed on 30th November 2011.
An application under the Agri-Environment Options Scheme from the person named was received in my Department on 5th 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).
As the person named was a previous participant in REPS, he was assessed under category 4. 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 44.37, 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. The person was also informed of his right of appeal to AEOS Section. An appeal was received from the person named and he has been advised that his appeal was unsuccessful. He has been informed of the right to appeal this decision to the Agriculture Appeals Office.
