Written Answers Nos. 258-270
258. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of applications received and payments made and the total amount paid, by county, under the areas of natural constraint scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46024/15]
View answerPayments under the Areas of Natural Constraints Scheme commenced, on schedule, on 23 September, 2015. To date, payments worth €191m have issued to over 89,000 applicants. The total number of eligible applicants is 102,555. Many applicants cannot be paid until early next year when they have complied with stocking density and retention terms of the scheme. The further detail on a county by county basis is currently being compiled and will be forwarded directly to the Deputy at the earliest possible date.
259. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of farmers who have received payments, the average payment per farmer, the percentage rate of payment made, and the total expenditure to date under the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46025/15]
View answerMy Department are currently undertaking the necessary checks on GLAS Tranche 1 applications which have a 1 October 2015 start date and are therefore eligible for a 2015 part year payment. When these payment application checks are complete these payments will start to issue. First payruns are expected to be scheduled next week, with 85% of what is due being paid by way of first instalment.
The details of average payments will not be available until payment processing is complete.
260. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of applications received under the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, tranche II, by tier 1, 2 and 3 and by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46026/15]
View answerThe GLAS online application system closed for the creation of new applications at midnight on Monday December 14. In light of the large volume of applications on the system, my Department has allowed advisors until 6pm Friday December 18 to finalise any which have not yet been submitted.
Interest in joining the scheme under Tranche 2 has been extremely high, and I am particularly happy to see so many Tier 1 and Tier 2 candidates. As already indicated, applications from these candidates will receive priority when allocating places under Tranche 2. Full details of applications, including a county-by-county breakdown by Tier, will not be available until all applications have been submitted, but the most recent information nationally is as follows:
A total of 19,105 applications have been created on the online system, with following breakdown by Tier: Tier 1 - 8,676; Tier 2 - 4,816; and Tier 3 - 5,613.
Of these, a total of 13,705 had been formally submitted up to yesterday morning, broken down as follows: Tier 1 - 6,866; Tier 2 - 4,151; and Tier 3 - 2,688.
261. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will accept all eligible applications submitted under the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme, tranche 2, given the underspend to date under the agri-environment options scheme 2014 to 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46027/15]
View answerThe GLAS online application system closed for the creation of new applications at midnight on Monday December 14. In light of the large volume of applications on the system, my Department has allowed advisors until 6pm Friday December 18 to finalise any which have not yet been submitted.
It is clear that interest in the Scheme is very strong and that Tranche 2 is well on target to reach the forecasts set when I launched the Tranche. I am particularly happy to see so many Tier 1 and Tier 2 candidates. As already indicated, applications from these candidates will receive priority when allocating places under Tranche 2. The precise number to be offered places will be determined by reference to the environmental priorities set for the Scheme and the overall budget available, with an eye also to ensuring adequate provision remains for Tranche 3 of the scheme.
262. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the specific payments made to a person (details supplied) in County Clare for the past five years under the single payment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46029/15]
View answerThe person named submitted an application under the Single Farm Payment Scheme for the past five years. However, he was deemed ineligible for payment as Article 28 (1) of Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 sets out that no payment will be made under the Single Payment Scheme where the amount claimed is less than €100.
263. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding a crop species and the methods available to deal with the issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46035/15]
View answerIn response to representations in July, the Minister of State with responsibility for Food, Forestry, Horticulture and Food Safety replied in August 2015 to the person referred to in your question, setting out the actions already taken and that were proposed for the remainder of 2015 in combating the ash dieback disease. This included a large scale systematic and wider targeted survey of forests, nurseries, hedgerows, agricultural environmental schemes and roadside plantings across the whole of the country which commenced at the beginning of July.
The results have shown that due to the high number of findings of ash dieback, especially in native hedgerows, Ireland would not be in a position to apply to the EU for Protected Zone status for the disease. The outcomes from the survey and other work are now feeding into a review of policy in relation to the disease being carried out by my Department in co-operation with colleagues in DARD in Northern Ireland.
My officials met a delegation from the IFA including the person referred to in your question on the 18 November. At that meeting the Department provided a detailed update on the situation of the disease in the country. The possibility of removing the embargo on ash sales under a plant passport system for nurseries, for plants which have been free of the disease for at least two years, is being considered.
Over the last number of years the Department has operated a Reconstitution Scheme to restore forests established under its afforestation schemes back to their original form following significant damage by natural causes. The Scheme has been used to assist forestry owners who have been affected by Ash dieback disease. The objective of the Scheme is to eradicate/contain ash dieback in forests by supporting the removal and destruction of trees and leaf litter and to reconstitute the forest by replanting with alternative species. The Scheme provides funding in respect of costs necessarily incurred in clearing the site and reconstituting the forest, subject to the maximum limits laid down.
The Scheme is restricted to forestry and currently there are no plans to either broaden the scope of the Scheme or to introduce any other Scheme for individuals or nurseries that have been affected by outbreaks of plant diseases including ash dieback.
264. Deputy Paul J. Connaughton asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when payment under the basic payment scheme will issue to a person (details supplied) in County Galway; the reason for the delay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46056/15]
View answerThe person named submitted a 2015 Transfer of Entitlements Allocation Right and Reference Value application to my Department to transfer allocations and values by change of registration of herd number. As the Basic Payment Scheme application for the person named had been submitted before the herd number was changed into joint names, held by the person named and the person who formerly held it solely, it was necessary for the person named to submit a Declaration of Undertaking form. This form has now been received by my Department, the application has been fully processed and payment will issue as soon as possible.
267. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of a forestry matter concerning a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46133/15]
View answerUnder the Forestry Act 1946, where a felling licence is granted to fell a forest, the licence will contain a condition requiring the land owner to replant the felled area or to plant an alternative site.
Replanting after clear-felling is essential to prevent deforestation which could serve to counteract the benefits of Ireland’s afforestation programmes and associated public expenditure, which to date has amounted to a substantial multi-billion Euro investment in forestry by the State and European Union. If my Department were to permit deforestation, it would fall to the State’s afforestation programme to fund the replacement of those areas deforested by grant-aiding other individuals to plant a similar number of hectares elsewhere. In effect, this is analogous to the State indirectly subsidising commercial developments through its afforestation programme. Much of the substantial investment to date would have served little purpose if it only subsidised temporary forests. If such forests were allowed to be removed, not only would the subsidies have been pointless but the deforestation would also cost the State further in respect of carbon credits by way of offsetting.
The only exceptions to the replanting requirement are small projects that provide value to the community (such as playing fields for schools and community centres, etc.) or up to 0.5 ha to build a home for a landowner or for his/her immediate family. Any project that is for commercial gain (any ‘business’ such as housing developments, wind farms, farming, industrial, etc.) is required to replant the site or to plant an alternative site.
268. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if farm payments will be paid as a matter of urgency to a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny. [46147/15]
View answerThe person named submitted a 2015 Transfer of Entitlement Allocation Right and Reference Value application to my Department to transfer allocations and values by Change of Legal Entity. This application has been processed and payment under the Basic Payment Scheme will issue as soon as possible.
269. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the funding available for Rush Harbour works and improvements in County Dublin, given the desperate need for repair; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46150/15]
View answerResponsibility for development, and repair and maintenance of Rush Harbour rests with Fingal County Council. The parent Department for that Local Authority is the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government.
My Department has in previous years, under the annual Fishery Harbour and Coastal Infrastructure Development Programme, provided funding to Local Authorities for the development and repair of local authority owned piers and slipways, subject to available Exchequer funding and overall national priorities.
Any application submitted under the Programme by Fingal County Council in respect of Rush Harbour, in future years, will be considered in the context of the criteria set out, available funding and overall priorities.
270. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when the next meeting of the national dairy forum will be held. [46151/15]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, having been a key proposer of such a mechanism, earlier in 2015 I announced my intention to establish a forum to address the key issues arising in the dairy sector in a post quota environment. I envisaged that this group, which would meet periodically, would adopt a strategic perspective and that it would comprise relevant stakeholders, including farm organisations, processors and cooperatives, state and semi state bodies, banks, environmental and other stakeholders. Such a dairy forum is appropriate as a means of engagement on critical issues such as market developments, sustainability, animal health, milk quality and price volatility.
This forum met for the first time in the Autumn with the agenda focussed on some of the aforementioned issues. There was a particular focus on this occasion on the issue of volatility. The forum also served as an extremely useful mechanism to gauge stakeholder preferences with respect to EU targeted aid for the sector. As the deputy will be aware, we are currently in the process of implementing these provisions nationally with payments to farmers currently being processed. I look forward to continued cooperation via the dairy forum to ensure that the Irish dairy sector can harness the opportunities and address the challenges that the future will bring in the context of quota free production. A decision regarding the timing of the next meeting will be made in the new year.
