Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 6 February 2014
169. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if farmers who have no entitlements at present and who have had livestock since 2009 and have returned a disadvantaged area application in each year since, will automatically be entitled to entitlements for the period 2015 to 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6069/14]
View answerMost farmers will have an automatic ‘allocation right’ based on their receipt of a Direct Payment (Single Payment Scheme, Grassland Sheep Scheme, Burren Life Scheme, Beef Data Scheme) under the 2013 scheme year. I have also decided to implement the optional provision whereby a Member State can allocate entitlements under the Basic Payment Scheme to persons who never held entitlements, either owned or leased, under the Single Payment Scheme. For a variety of reasons, such persons did not participate in the Single Payment Scheme and in the interests of fairness should not be excluded from the new Basic Payment Scheme.
However an allocation under this provision will only be made to such persons who for the claim year 2013 ‘produced, reared or grew agricultural products, including through harvesting, milking, breeding animals and keeping animals for farming purposes.’ Persons applying for an allocation of entitlements under this provision will be asked to submit verifiable evidence of such activity. The question of whether participation in the Disadvantaged Areas Scheme will be accepted as evidence of such activity will be decided at a later date.
