Written Answers Nos. 37-41
37. Deputy Tony McLoughlin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of an application by a person (details supplied) under the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme 2; why the person has not received any correspondence since September 2015 regarding this application; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9281/16]
View answerThe applicant has applied for investment items under the Young Farmer Capital Investment Scheme of TAMS II. All of the administrative checks on the application have been completed and it is expected that approval will issue in a matter of weeks.
38. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to issue payment to a person (details supplied) under the green low carbon agri-environment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9291/16]
View answerThe first person named has been approved under Tranche 1 of GLAS with a contract start date of 1 October 2015. GLAS applicants with a start date of 1 October 2015 are eligible for a 2015 part-year payment in respect of 2015 eligible actions, covering the three month period 1 October 2015-31 December 2015.
The application of the person named has successfully completed the pre-payment validation checks in respect of the 2015 part-year payment. The first instalment of the payment due issued to the person named on the 23 December 2015. The balancing payment will issue this quarter, after all required regulatory checks are completed.
An application for Tranche 2 of the GLAS Scheme for the second person named was received on the dedicated GLAS online system on the 4 December 2015.
The unprecedented level of applications to the Scheme has meant that for GLAS 2, priority is being given to what are called Tier 1 and Tier 2 candidates, i.e. those who either manage key environmental assets like endangered birds, protected habitats or high-quality water courses, or who have committed to undertake particularly valuable environmental actions like growing feed-crops for wild birds, adopting low-impact tillage techniques or using low-emission slurry spreading methods.
Farmers had been urged to present the highest standard environmental plans under GLAS 2, and to adopt actions that would promote them from Tier 3 to a higher tier, thereby significantly increasing the chance of selection. Over 80% of applicants in this second tranche of GLAS opted to do so, and with the funding available were approved.
As the application for the second person named was ranked as a Tier 3 application it was not selected into the scheme.
A third tranche of GLAS (GLAS 3) will open later this year and the second person named and any applicant who was unsuccessful in the second tranche will have the opportunity now to re-examine their proposed farm-plan, in consultation with their advisor, and see how it might be improved to increase their chance of selection under GLAS 3.
39. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which he and his colleagues in the European Union are aware of the difficulties facing families dependent on the fishing industry here and throughout the European Union; the measures he is pursuing to address this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9302/16]
View answerThe new Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) provides the framework for the long term sustainability of fish stocks around our shores, the continued economic viability of our fishing fleet and fish processing industry while supporting our families and communities that depend on the sea for their livelihood. From the outset of the Common Fisheries Policy revision process, Ireland’s overarching goal was to ensure a sustainable, profitable and self reliant industry that protects and enhances the social and economic fabric of rural coastal communities dependent on the seafood sector, while balancing these objectives with the need to safeguard fish stocks for future generations. This will ensure that families dependent on fishing can look forward to being part of a vibrant, productive and resilient Irish fishing industry and can expect to continue to achieve a reasonable return for their efforts and investment.
A key element of the new CFP is the setting of fishing levels on the basis of MSY (Maximum Sustainable Yield). This should ultimately lead to healthy fish stocks, higher quotas for both Irish and EU fishermen and lead to more sustainable fishing patterns. The introduction of a landing obligation/discarding ban on a phased basis, as set out in the CFP, also represents a fundamental shift in fisheries policy and fishing practices. It is expected that over time the landing obligation will lead to an improvement in the state of the stocks of importance to Ireland and will result in increased fishing opportunities for the Irish fishing industry.
I was delighted to launch on 14 January 2016 Ireland’s new €240 million EMFF Seafood Development Operational Programme. This new investment programme will be the source of very significant investment supports for the seafood sector for the period up to 2020. The Programme represents a doubling of previous support levels.
The Programme aims to support the seafood industry in meeting the challenges of the CFP and in sustainably growing production, value and employment in the seafood industry, in particular the aquaculture and processing sectors. Some €67 million is being made available for the fishing sector, €30 million for aquaculture and €30 million for seafood processing and marketing. A further €12 million is being made available to significantly grow the Fisheries Local Action Group initiative to foster economic activity in fishing communities and €10 million for blue growth and marine spatial planning.
The Programme will support the FoodWise 2025 strategy for the seafood sector, in particular its targets of achieving €1 billion in seafood sales and growth of employment of 3,000 by 2020.
A range of schemes under the Programme have already been launched by BIM in 2016 and grant offers are being made at present. I have provided BIM with some €23.7 million in 2016 for this purpose.
40. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of a payment to a person (details supplied) under the 2014 beef genomics scheme. [9326/16]
View answerThe person named applied to join the 2014 Beef Genomics Scheme on 4th April 2014. Final validations were recently completed on this application and payment will issue to the nominated bank account of the person named shortly.
41. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to give consideration to entitlements for a person (details supplied) under the national reserve scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9342/16]
View answerAccording to records held by my Department, the person named received 9.90 Basic Payment Scheme entitlements in 2015 under the Basic Payment Scheme.
The 2015 National Reserve opened for application on the 5th January 2015 for priority categories of ‘young farmer’ and ‘new entrant’. In order to be eligible as a ‘young farmer’ applicants had to be setting up an agricultural holding for the first time or have set up such a holding during the five years preceding the first submission of the Basic Payment Scheme application. Applicants also had to fulfil criteria in relation to education and off-farm income. Applicants to the ‘new entrant’ category had to fulfil similar criteria and must have commenced agricultural activity in 2013 or any later year. The closing date for applications to the 2015 National Reserve was 31st March 2015.
The person named did not submit any application under the 2015 National Reserve.
