Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 November 2013
17. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if permission for winter planting for forestry grants will be extended to 31 January 2014 to enable farmers who intend planting land this winter to draw their disadvantaged areas payment for 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48239/13]
View answerAfforestation grants are processed in two stages, commonly known as technical approval and financial approval. In the Autumn of each year, there is a limited opening of the second stage, that is financial approval, to those who have already received technical approval and are ready to plant, once the weather and other conditions are suitable for planting - usually within the late Autumn or early Winter period. This year, the Autumn planting was opened on 24 September with a completion date for planting of 31 December 2013.
It is important to stress that this invitation to apply for financial approval was limited to those owners who were ready to commence planting within 6 weeks of the date of their financial approval letter all of which were issued in the week beginning 7 October 2013. This means planting must substantially commence by mid- November 2013. The completion date for planting as set out in their notification of financial approval is 31 December 2013. It was a matter for landowners to decide if this timescale suited their individual circumstances having regard to the qualifying conditions for other Departmental Schemes, including the Disadvantaged Area Scheme. If the timing did not suit their individual circumstances to plant their land before the end of this year it was open to them to defer submitting an application until they were ready to plant.
Following the announcement in the Budget of the allocation for forestry in 2014, my Department is now in a position to re-open the afforestation schemes for financial approval on an open-ended basis. There is no deadline for the submission of applications for financial approval. The timing of the application will be determined by the applicant’s readiness to plant and the completion date for planting for these applicants will extend into 2014. The Department will closely monitor financial approvals to ensure that available budgets are not exceeded.
For beneficiaries under the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme who must maintain their land in agricultural use for the entire calendar year in order to qualify for payment, and who have yet to commence planting, they can apply under this release and commence planting in 2014.
