Written Answers Nos. 30-38
30. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the steps he will take to ensure fairness and transparency in the on-farm inspection regime; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25915/14]
View answerMy Department, in the context of delivering the Single Payment Scheme, Disadvantaged Areas’ Scheme and other area related schemes, is required to carry out an annual round of inspections covering both the eligibility of the land declared to draw down payments and also cross compliance aspects, to ensure adherence with EU regulatory requirements in the areas of public, animal and plant health, environment and animal welfare and ensuring that the farm is maintained in good agricultural and environmental condition. The basis for these inspections is governed by EU legislation and there are certain minimum numbers and types of inspections that must be conducted each year. Details of these inspections and the regulations involved are published in the Terms and Conditions of the schemes which are sent to every applicant annually.
These inspections are a necessary requirement in order to draw down approximately €1.6 billion of EU funds annually and to avoid EU disallowances. The inspections are subject to repeated audits by the European Commission, the European Court of Auditors and the Comptroller and Auditor General’s Office and this ensures an independent verification that inspections are conducted in full compliance with the legal requirements. In abiding with the findings of these audits my Department ensures that these inspections are conducted in a fair and equitable manner and in full accordance with the legislative provisions. Furthermore inspecting officers are very experienced and are regularly trained to ensure that they carry out inspections in a professional manner, with a process of continuous oversight by supervisors and random verification of inspections to ensure a fair and consistent approach. In implementing the inspection programme, my Department takes maximum possible account of the realities of farming.
A comprehensive appeal mechanism is in place in order to protect the interests of farmers who have difficulties with the inspection findings or who consider that the inspection has not been conducted in accordance with legislative requirements. This appeal system incorporates the option for a farmer to initially seek to have the inspection outcome reviewed internally by an officer more senior than the inspecting officer. Where the farmer remains dissatisfied, the decision can be appealed to the independent Agriculture Appeals Office and ultimately to the Office of the Ombudsman, which brings an entirely external and visibly independent dimension to the process.
31. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extra resources he has made available to enforce the new animal health and welfare legislation. [26100/14]
View answerConsiderable resources are being devoted to enforcing the new Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 which brings together and modernises many existing laws in the area of animal health and welfare. My Department's network of regional offices throughout the country, together with the Animal Welfare helpline, are valuable resources and provide a reporting mechanism for any person concerned with an animal welfare issue. My Department also continues to provide considerable financial supports to both animal welfare organisations to assist their work in animal welfare activities and to local authorities to assist their work in dealing with abandoned horses. In this regard funding of €1.8m was provided to animal welfare organisations to support their activities in 2014 and funding of €3m was provided in 2013 to local authorities for their work in control of horses.
A feature of the new Act is that it provides for my Department to enter into service agreements with other bodies to act as authorised officers for the purposes of the Act. In this regard, service agreements have been agreed with the ISPCA, granting inspectors of that body greater powers to perform their current functions. The support of An Garda Síochána is crucial in enforcing the Act and my officials will continue the collaborative approach built up over many years with the Gardaí in ensuring compliance with animal health and welfare legislation. Codes of Practice are also a feature of the new act. These are designed to provide practical guidance relating to various parts of the act and will play an important role serving as guides to good welfare for those working with animals and reflecting best practice internationally.
In conclusion, the Animal Health and Welfare Act was a priority for me and I am confident that its enactment will facilitate a more effective implementation of animal health and welfare legislation. I am satisfied that adequate resources are being provided for this purpose.
32. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans under the Common Agricultural Policy reform proposals to assist and support young farmers who have been farming for more than five years to build a viable farming enterprise; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26139/14]
View answerThe new Direct Payments Regulation that will come into force in 2015 provides for a Young Farmers Scheme to assist young farmers in the initial stages of establishing a farming enterprise. Qualifying “Young Farmers” will be eligible to apply to the National Reserve for an allocation of new entitlements or a top up on the value of existing entitlements and also to participate in the Young Farmers Scheme.
The definition of Young Farmer includes the criteria that such persons are aged 40 or less in their first year of application and that they have established their holding within five years of their first application under the Basic Payment Scheme. This definition is included in the new Direct Payment Regulation, applies to all Member States, and no Member State has any discretion to vary these conditions. Member States may however add further qualifying criteria. In this regard, to ensure that limited resources are targeted specifically at persons who have a genuine interest in agriculture, I have decided to apply the following educational requirement:
- S/he has successfully completed a recognised course of education in agriculture giving rise to an award at FETAC level 6 or its equivalent.
The essential purpose of the Young Farmers Scheme is to assist young farmers in the initial stages of establishing a farming enterprise in their own name and to encourage generational renewal. It is for this reason that the payment is restricted to those who are establishing a farming enterprise or have established such a holding in the previous five years. In addition the restricting of the payment to a maximum of five years will make it possible to support those young farmers who will come on-stream in the years subsequent to 2015.
Most farmers who have been farming for more than five years hold existing entitlements under the Single Payment Scheme. Where such farmers hold low value entitlements they will benefit significantly from the process of convergence that will apply under the Basic Payment Scheme. They will also benefit from the Greening payment which, as it is calculated as a percentage of a person’s payment under the Basic Payment Scheme, will converge in line with the Basic Payment.
The National Reserve under the current Single Payment Scheme operated up to the scheme year 2012 and many of the group in question were in a position to avail of an allocation of entitlements or a top-up on existing entitlements during one of those years.
I am however very conscious of the group of young persons who were unable to avail of the Installation Aid Scheme and who are also excluded from the benefits of being a ‘young farmer’ due to the five year rule. I am actively investigating alternative ways in which this group may be assisted.
33. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the consultation and discussion with farming groups regarding GLAS, especially regarding 50% and 80% for the tiered participation of commonage shareholders in the scheme. [26132/14]
View answerI announced details of the new GLAS (Green Low-carbon Agri-environment Scheme) on the 14 of January 2014 as part of a suite of proposed measures under the new Rural Development Programme. GLAS will provide significant funding to farmers who undertake environmental actions in line with national and EU environmental objectives. It will contribute to the overall public good and will build on the success of previous agri-environment schemes.
Stakeholder consultation has been a central element in the development of the new RDP, and has been ongoing for almost a year. In that time, a number of different formal and informal consultation processes involving the farming organisations have taken place. The most recently completed stakeholder consultation centred on the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA). As part of this process I published a consultation document on the new Rural Development Programme, which sets out the range of proposed measures in considerable detail.
Since I first proposed priority access for commonage owners who could achieve 80% participation level in a collective, I have listened carefully to the concerns expressed by farmers about the difficulty of achieving that level of agreement. Having reviewed the position in the light of those concerns, I announced on 13 May 2014 that I was building in a second-tier access to the Scheme where a minimum of just 50% participation could be secured. I believe this will significantly ease the burden of securing collective agreements. Once the inputs from the final round of public consultation have been assessed, I will move to finalise the detail of the scheme. At that stage I envisage further discussions with the various farm bodies.
34. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there is a threat to the supply of fresh liquid winter milk in the short to medium-term; the steps he has taken to address this matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26113/14]
View answerThe fresh milk market is the largest consumer market for milk and milk products in the State with an estimated retail value of €513m in 2013. National consumption of fresh liquid milk in 2013 was 552 million litres. Average per capita consumption in the State of 0.34 litres per day was the second highest in the EU.
The National Milk Agency, which operates under the aegis of my Department, was set up in 1994 to ensure an indigenous year round supply of milk for liquid consumption. To this end, all farmers supplying milk for liquid consumption in the winter months do so under contracts with processors which must be registered with the Agency. Farmers supplying milk in the winter months are paid a premium over the price paid to farmers who only produce milk in the spring-autumn period. This premium reflects the additional costs of producing milk in the winter months.
Currently there is no indication of a threat to the supply of fresh liquid winter milk in the near term. In the five prescribed winter months of October 2013 to February 2014 total milk supplies by registered producers amounted to an estimated 296 million litres, an increase of 12 million litres on 2012/13, representing more than adequate cover for liquid milk consumption of an estimated 225 million litres.
The removal of EU quotas in 2015 may have an impact on the manufacturing and liquid sectors and in particular winter milk production and developments in that regard will be monitored closely.
35. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is concerned that the Teagasc national farm strategy for 2013 has pointed to the fact that cattle, tillage and sheep farmers' incomes are falling behind dairy farmers to the extent that persons are leaving the sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26143/14]
View answerThe following table shows family farm income estimates from Teagasc's National Farm Survey for the last three years, by system of farming.
Family Farm Income by system of farming, 2011 to 2013
|
Family farm income by system of farming € |
Dairying |
Cattle Rearing |
Cattle Other |
Sheep |
Tillage |
All farms |
|
2011 |
67,847 |
12,827 |
19,183 |
19,050 |
37,092 |
30,095 |
|
2012 |
49,290 |
12,186 |
17,896 |
18,243 |
37,151 |
25,479 |
|
2013* |
64,371 |
9,460 |
15,595 |
11,160 |
29,907 |
25,639 |
* Preliminary estimate
Source: Teagasc National Farm Survey
This data illustrates that there is a major gap between the incomes on dairy farms and those on drystock farms, with tillage farms in between. Dairy farm incomes increased by 31% last year, although this followed a reduction of 27% the previous year. Average income fell for all non-dairy farm systems.
It should be borne in mind that almost all dairy farms are classified by Teagasc as full-time farms in terms of the labour input required, whereas most drystock farms are classified as part-time in terms of labour input required. A further point is that family farm income does not equate to farm household income. On 28% of all farms the farm holder had an off-farm job, and on 51% of farms either the holder and/or spouse had an off-farm job in 2013, both marginally higher than in 2012. Overall, it is estimated that on 75% of farms, either the farmer and/or spouse had another source of off-farm income, be it from employment, pensions or other social welfare payments.
While a number of drystock farmers will convert to dairy in the post-quota era, I expect that only a relatively small number of larger scale drystock farmers will be in a position to do so. All farms, and in particular lower income drystock farms, benefit significantly from the €1.2 billion in single farm payments paid by my Department each year.
The new Rural Development Programme will also be a vital support to farm families in terms of enhancing the competitiveness of the agri-food sector, managing natural resources in a sustainable manner, and ensuring the balanced development of rural areas. The Government has given a clear signal of its commitment to a strategic investment in rural Ireland and the agri-food sector by providing National Exchequer funding to bring the total amount available for RDP schemes to over €4 billion in the period to 2020.
36. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which he is satisfied that the benefit achieved in the context of Common Agricultural Policy reform for European agriculture will not be eroded in any future international trade discussions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26137/14]
View answerAs a small open economy dependent on trade, Ireland favours ambitious and balanced trade agreements. We have a number of offensive interests in the current negotiations that are taking place with Japan, India, Vietnam, Thailand and of course the United States. Like others we have defensive interests as well. The current negotiations with MERCOSUR come to mind in that regard.
The recent reform of the Common Agricultural Policy was a useful and progressive reform making the CAP fit for purpose to 2020. It provided farmers and the agri-food sector with policy certainty for the years to come and with strategic financial support to increase sustainability and enhance competitiveness. Against this background, we must ensure that there is proper coherence between trade and agricultural policy in the EU. I have consistently made this point to my colleagues in other EU Member States and to the Commission and I will continue to work to ensure that we engage in trade negotiations that promote the interests of the EU agricultural sector.
37. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the degree to which he is confident of achieving the best possible result for the agricultural community in the context of redistribution of direct payments under the various headings in the aftermath of common agricultural reform with particular reference to the need to ensure that regard is had for the size and importance of the various farm enterprises and the need to ensure the ongoing viability of such enterprises; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26138/14]
View answerWhen formulating the shape of Direct Payments in Ireland, I based my decisions on some key fundamental principles. In particular, it is my clear objective that any disruption to our current levels of production arising from the Reform should be minimised. There was a distinct danger for Ireland that the Commission proposal to move to a ‘flat-rate’ would redistribute funds away from our most productive farmers and land, to the less fertile areas of the country. While recognising that it is no longer possible to justify variations in the level of support on the basis of out-dated historical references, my guiding principle was that the redistribution of funds should take place in a gradual, phased manner over the five years of the new scheme thereby allowing farmers to adjust to the new level of income support.
For this reason, the redistribution of funds in Ireland will be managed solely through the mechanism of the Internal Convergence Model as originally proposed by Ireland. This model provides a clear methodology for the redistribution of funds from those who currently hold high value entitlements to those who hold low value entitlements. It is predictable and easily tracked and will make it possible to provide very clear information to farmers regarding the level of support they can expect to receive for the period 2015 to 2019. In addition, it achieves the stated objectives of a gradual phased redistribution of funds in a fair and objective manner.
Any farmer with an Initial Unit Value below 90% of the national average entitlements value will see the value of their entitlements increase. The ‘minimum entitlement value’ by 2019 has been set at 60% of the national average while I have also applied a ‘maximum value’ whereby no farmer will receive a payment per hectare of over €700 by 2019.
I have also applied significant priority to young farmers under the Direct Payment Regulation and this priority is supported in our implementation. In common with many other EU Member States, Ireland has experienced a significant aging of our farming community and I have looked to the category of ‘young farmer’ as a means of encouraging generational renewal. In this context I have decided to apply the maximum amounts permissible of 3% of our Basic Payment ceiling to the National Reserve and 2% of our National ceiling to the Young Farmers Scheme for 2015. To ensure that the benefits of the ‘young farmer’ category are targeted at those who have a genuine interest in agriculture as a career, I am also applying a requirement for a high level of education in agriculture.
In determining eligibility under the new Scheme, I also decided to implement the so-called Scottish Derogation measure which allows my Department to allocate entitlements to those who never held entitlements under the current Single Payment Scheme but who were actively farming in 2013. In addition, farmers who were not eligible to receive a payment in 2013 (and therefore do not have an automatic allocation right) but who produced fruits and vegetables in 2013 will be eligible to receive an allocation of entitlements under the new reform. A minimum area of one hectare will be applied to this group.
In determining the number of entitlements to be allocated under the Basic Payment Scheme, Ireland will make use of eligible land declared in 2013 and 2015, whichever is lowest. This option is of particular importance in Ireland where much farming activity is based on leased land and where a future ‘land reference’ would have resulted in very disruptive land speculation.
The outcome is a reasonable and balanced compromise between the need for a fair redistribution of funds while ensuring that such distribution continues to reflect the realities of agricultural production in Ireland.
38. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his plans to legislate to ensure passport-free travel for qualifying persons travelling within the common travel area; his views on a Bill regarding this issue (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26370/14]
View answerThis question touches on some issues that are not within this Department’s remit, however I can confirm that there is no requirement to present a passport for travel within the common travel area. However, I am aware that at least one airline requires a passport, not for travel within the common travel area, but rather as the only approved means of establishing the identity of Irish travellers. Customers are made aware of this airline requirement at the time of flight booking and accept this requirement as just one of a number of terms and conditions of the booking. Ultimately customers have the option which airline to use and can travel without a passport within the common travel area with other carriers. Accordingly, I do not believe that enacting legislation envisaged by the Deputy would address the question of the voluntary terms and conditions to be accepted by Irish travellers when making a flight booking.
