EU Regulations

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 February 2016

Tuesday, 2 February 2016

Questions (241)

Michael McNamara

Question:

241. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the 2015 national reserve (young farmer/new entrant) and young farmers scheme terms and conditions, in particular the condition that applicants for the young farmers category of the national reserve must have a gross off-farm income that does not exceed €40,000 in one of the tax years 2013 or 2014, are compatible with the conditions for "farmers commencing their agricultural activity" in Article 30 of Regulation (EU) No. 1307/2013, which allows member states to establish their own additional objective and non-discriminative eligibility criteria for this category of farmers only as regards appropriate skills, experience or education. [4218/16]

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

The National Reserve has been administered in Ireland since the introduction of the Single Payment Scheme in 2005 and provides for an allocation of entitlements to eligible applicants. The Basic payment scheme National Reserve was introduced as a measure under the Basic Payment Scheme in 2015. Qualifying criteria for the National Reserve is set down under EU Regulation and under objective criteria as defined by the Member State.

Article 30.4 of EU Regulation 1307/2013, governing the operation of the National Reserve under the Basic Payment Scheme, states that ‘Member States shall allocate payment entitlements from their national or regional reserves in accordance with objective criteria and in such a way as to ensure the equal treatment of farmers and to avoid distortions of the market and of competition’.

The process of deciding objective criteria for the National Reserve is carried out in consultation with the Direct Payments Advisory Committee which includes members of the main farming bodies and advisory services. After consultation with this Committee, and in the context of the limited funding available to the National Reserve, it was decided that an off farm income limit of €40,000 would be applied to all applicants. The corresponding off-farm income limit under the Single Payment Scheme National Reserve was €30,000. Applicants under the Basic Payment Scheme National Reserve have the flexibility of choosing either of the two most recent tax years, 2013 or 2014 whichever is more advantageous.