Written Answers Nos. 461-481
461. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when he will issue payment for the Scottish derogation to a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16736/16]
View answerMy Department received a Scottish Derogation application from the persons named on 14th May 2015.
In order to qualify for ‘Scottish Derogation’ applicants must submit verifiable evidence that they were engaged in agricultural production in 2013. An official from my Department has been in contact with the second named person to request this documentary evidence. On receipt of this information the application will be processed and the person named will be notified of the outcome of his application shortly thereafter.
462. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of a payment to a person (details supplied) under the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16738/16]
View answerThe Sheep Technology Adoption Programme was a three year programme for 2013, 2014 and 2015. The person named submitted a valid application and was subsequently paid in full for 2013 and 2014. In the absence of confirmation that the person named had completed all required tasks for 2015, payment was not authorised. The required confirmation has since been received and payment issued to the above named person on 19th April, 2016.
The 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 entitled to a 2015 part-year payment in respect of 2015 eligible actions, covering the three month period 1 October 2015 - 31 December 2015.
My Department received a request to withdraw a parcel approved for the Low Input Permanent Pasture action from the approved GLAS application and this has delayed the processing of the payment. In light of the changed situation the application must be re-assessed and payment will issue when this re-assessment is complete.
463. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of a payment to a person (details supplied) under the agri-environment options scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16741/16]
View answerMy Department has no record of receiving an AEOS application for the person named.
An application under Tranche 1 of GLAS was received in my Department on the 20 May 2015 and the person named was approved into the GLAS 1 with effect from 1 October 2015. There are a number of applications, including that of the person named, remaining which have not passed all of the Department’s pre-payment validation checks for the 2015 part-year payment. The Department is continuing to investigate these issues including the correction of any IT or data issues with a view to all these remaining cases meeting the payment validation checks so that they will be paid the full amount of their 2015 part-year payment at the same time the 2015 GLAS balancing payment is due to issue.
464. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of a payment to a person (details supplied) under the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16742/16]
View answerAn application under Tranche 1 of GLAS was received in my Department on the 21 May 2015 and the person named was approved into the GLAS 1 with effect from 1 October 2015. There are a number of applications, including that of the person named, remaining which have not passed all of the Department’s pre-payment validation checks for the 2015 part-year payment. The Department is continuing to investigate these issues including the correction of any IT or data issues with a view to all these remaining cases meeting the payment validation checks so that they will be paid the full amount of their 2015 part-year payment at the same time the 2015 GLAS balancing payment is due to issue.
465. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of a payment to a person (details supplied) under the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme 2; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16743/16]
View answerThe applicant in question has submitted three separate applications to the TAMS II Scheme.
Approval issued on the 15th of June 2016 in relation to his application for a bulk tank under the Dairy Equipment Scheme. A query issued to the applicant on the 13th of June in relation to his application for a feed system and meal bin and when responded to the matter will be processed further. The application for Animal Housing and Tank under the Animal Welfare, Safety and Nutrient Storage Scheme has passed the administrative checks and will be sent to the local office in a matter of days for final technical checks.
466. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of an appeal by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16744/16]
View answerThe person named submitted an application under the ‘Old Young Farmer’ category of the 2015 National Reserve to my Department. This application was not successful as the applicant was deemed to have commenced farming prior to 2008. On this basis the person named did not meet the eligibility criteria under the National Reserve ‘Old Young Farmer’ category. The person named was notified of this decision in writing and was offered the opportunity to submit an appeal.
My Department received an appeal from the person named in relation to his National Reserve application. This appeal has been considered by my Department and a letter issued to the applicant on 16th June 2016 informing him of a successful outcome to the appeal. Any outstanding monies due on foot of this decision will issue shortly.
467. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of a payment to a person (details supplied) under the farm payment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16745/16]
View answerThe person named commenced their AEOS contract on 1 September 2011. Payment issued in respect of the 2011-2013 Scheme years. Issues arose which resulted in a delay in the processing of the 2014 Scheme year payment. These issues have now been resolved and payment in respect of the 2014 scheme year issued on 2nd June 2016. It is expected that payment in respect of the 2015 Scheme year will issue shortly.
468. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of an application by a person (details supplied) under the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16746/16]
View answerAn application under Tranche 2 of GLAS was received in my Department on the 8 December 2015 and the person named was approved into the GLAS 2 with effect from 1 January 2016. The first payment due to the person named is in respect of the 2016 scheme year and this will be processed in the final quarter of the year.
An application was also received from the person named under the GLAS Traditional Farm Building Scheme, which supports the conservation of traditional farm buildings on GLAS-approved farms. This scheme is jointly funded by my Department and the European Union, and is administered by the Heritage Council on behalf of my Department.
I am delighted to say that over 500 applications were received for the Scheme under the first tranche and the Heritage Council is currently validating and evaluating all of these, ranking each application in accordance with the selection criteria published as part of the Scheme documentation. When that process is complete, they will notify all applicants of the outcome of their own application in due course. The Scheme remains open for the whole RDP period and anybody unsuccessful in one tranche is perfectly free to apply again under the next.
469. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of an application by a person (details supplied) under the Scottish derrogation scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16747/16]
View answerMy Department received a Scottish Derogation application from the person named on 8th May 2015.
In order to qualify for ‘Scottish Derogation’ applicants must submit verifiable evidence that they were engaged in agricultural production in 2013. No such evidence was included with the application from the person named and an official from my Department has been in contact with the person named to request this information.
On receipt of this information the application will be processed further and the person named will be notified of the outcome of his application shortly thereafter.
470. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae 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; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16748/16]
View answerThe applicant in this case applied under the Young Farmers Capital Investment Scheme of TAMS II. Approval issued on the 14th of June.
471. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of an appeal by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16749/16]
View answerThe person named submitted a 2015 Basic Payment/Areas of Natural Constraint Scheme application on 29 April 2015. EU Regulations governing the administration of these schemes require that full and comprehensive administrative checks, including in some cases on-farm inspections, be completed before any payments issue.
The application of the person named was selected for a Ground Eligibility inspection. The inspection identified discrepancies between the areas declared and the area found resulting in an over-declaration in area of greater than 50%. Based on the terms and conditions of the schemes this resulted in no payments being due under the 2015 Direct Payments Scheme and the application of an administrative fine to be offset against any future EU payments.
The person named was notified of the inspection outcome on 16 November 2015 and appealed this decision to the District Inspector. The outcome of this appeal was to uphold the inspection findings.
The person named has appealed to the independent Agriculture Appeals Office (AAO) and that process is currently ongoing. The person named will be directly notified in writing of the outcome of this appeal by the AAO. At the end of this process if the person named feels that they have been treated unfairly they can raise the matter with the Office of the Ombudsman.
472. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the lead time for inspections for applications for new shed grants under the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme; the measures he will take to ensure that inspections happen promptly so that construction works can be completed before winter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16750/16]
View answerInspections will be carried out on a small percentage of the applications received under the TAMS II schemes. My Department is ensuring that all inspections required will be carried out as speedily as possible.
473. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when he will make a payment to a person (details supplied) under the single farm payment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16777/16]
View answerThe person named submitted an application for the 2013 Single Payment Scheme on 6th May 2013. Following the identification of an overclaim found as part of the Land Parcel Identification System review reduced payments issued to the nominated bank account of the person named in October and December 2013, respectively.
This decision was successfully appealed by the person named and additional payments due on foot of this decision will shortly issue to the nominated bank account of the person named.
474. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is in the process of revising the regulations surrounding land eligibility under the basic payment scheme. [16810/16]
View answerEU regulations governing the Direct Payment Schemes and Rural Development Programme Measures in relation to all aspects of the Basic Payment Scheme including land eligibility are compiled by the European Council, Parliament and Commission, in conjunction with all Member States. Any revision to these regulations is not a matter for an individual Member State.
My Department and I have been and will continue to be fully involved in the process for the compilation and revision of EU regulations.
475. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if there are internal discussions ongoing regarding recategorising certain types of land which were deemed to be scrub in the past. [16811/16]
View answerUnder the provisions of the Basic Payment Scheme, farmers need to declare an eligible hectare for each payment entitlement held in order to benefit from payment. The hectares declared must be eligible and must have an agricultural activity carried out on them.
The governing EU regulations define an agricultural activity as the production, rearing or growing of agricultural products, including harvesting, milking, breeding animals, and keeping animals for farming purposes and maintaining an agricultural area in a state which makes it suitable for grazing or cultivation. An applicant is free to choose an activity that best suits their farming enterprise and if s/he so wishes can choose to just top the land.
Where an officially approved environmental management plan under the Birds or Habitats Directives requires certain management practices to be conducted on agricultural areas, such management practices will take precedence in determining the level of agricultural activity to be conducted on agricultural areas declared for payment.
Article 32(2)(b)(i) of Regulation (EU) 1307/2013 provides that an eligible hectare is any area which gave a right to payments in 2008 under the single payment scheme and which no longer complies with the definition of 'eligible hectare' as a result of the implementation of Directive 92/43/EEC, Directive 2000/60/EC and Directive 2009/147/EC.
In that regard, the 2016 BPS Terms and Conditions set out details with regard to land eligibility and payments. Section 1.5 refers to land eligibility and states that in order to draw down payment in respect of BPS entitlements, applicants must have an “eligible hectare” to accompany each entitlement. An eligible hectare is land that is used for an agricultural activity.
Section 1.5 of the Terms and Conditions further makes reference to The Birds and Habitats Directives and provides that land that no longer complies with the definition of eligible hectare as a result of the implementation of Council Directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds or Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora is eligible for payment where the following conditions are met:
(i) The land must have been claimed under the 2008 Single Payment Scheme;
(ii) The land must have been eligible for payment under the 2008 Single Payment Scheme;
(iii) Any increase in the ineligible area should be directly linked to the management requirements for the habitat.
Where an applicant is claiming on land that is otherwise considered ineligible, for example scrub, such land will be deemed eligible for payment where the applicant satisfies the requirements as set out above.
476. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 183 of 14 April 2016, if he will appoint an independent person from outside his Department to undertake the review of his Department’s aquaculture licensing system in order that non-industry stakeholders and the general public can have confidence that the review is balanced and genuine. [16824/16]
View answerIreland’s first National Strategic Plan for Sustainable Aquaculture Development was published by my Department in December 2015. That Plan proposes 24 actions to drive the sustainable development of the aquaculture sector and sustainably grow production in the sector by 45,000 tonnes.
Action number 22 of the National Strategic Plan for Sustainable Aquaculture Development commits my Department to a review and revision of the aquaculture licence process, including the applicable legal framework. This Review is echoed by the recommendations of FoodWise 2025.
Aquaculture licences are determined by my Department having regard to the requirements of the Fisheries (Amendment) Act 1997, the Foreshore Acts 1993-2011, the EU Habitats and Birds Directives, the Aarhus Convention, requirements relating to underwater archaeology and certain other regulatory requirements.
Thus, the process around aquaculture licensing is extremely complex and demanding. Nevertheless, since 2012 my Department has made 471 aquaculture licence determinations. Some 53 licence determinations have been made so far this year and in the order of 150 - 200 licence determinations are expected for the year as a whole.
The National Strategic Plan for Sustainable Aquaculture Development recognised the complexity of the present process and related legal framework. It committed to a review of the licensing process, including the legal framework. I am presently considering this commitment and the many other actions proposed in the National Strategic Plan for Sustainable Aquaculture Development and expect to progress the issue in 2016.
477. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 97 of 27 January 2016 and 181 of 14 April 2016, when he will complete the examination of overstocking at the sites; if he will publish the findings; and if he will ensure that the requirement to comply with European Union environmental legislation on aquaculture will not be ignored by his Department in the handling of these cases. [16825/16]
View answerAs the Deputy has been advised, my Department is currently examining possible overstocking in respect of three sites.
Every effort is being made to complete the process, having regard to the technical and legislative complexities involved.
My Department administers the licensing of aquaculture in accordance with all applicable national and EU legislation.
As the examination by my Department of possible overstocking remains ongoing as part of a statutory process it would not be appropriate for me to comment further at this time.
478. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will suspend the granting of aquaculture licences until the proposed review of his Department’s aquaculture licensing regime, as promised in Food Wise 2025, is completed. [16826/16]
View answerApplications for aquaculture licences are considered by my Department in accordance with the 1997 Fisheries (Amendment) Act, the 1933 Foreshore Act and applicable EU legislation.
The legislation does not provide for the suspension of the licence assessment process.
479. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to put in place a scheme under delegated regulation C(2016)2122 via the urgency procedure authorising agreements and decisions of co-operatives and other forms of producer organisations in the milk and milk products sector on the planning of production; his further plans for any alternatives to alleviate the impact of the dairy crisis on Irish farmers, given that the European Commissioner has stated that he does not have the tools to suspend the superlevy; if he will provide a breakdown of the allocation of the €13.7 million under the aid package for European Union farmers since 2015; the amount of this that has been drawn down; the timeframe left to allocate moneys from the package; the sectors that have benefited; his plans to allocate any remaining moneys under the package; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16914/16]
View answerThe proposal referred to by the Deputy permits co-operatives or producer organisations in the dairy sector to engage in concerted voluntary supply control among their members. Ireland has supported these measures provided they are voluntary, temporary and financed only at individual Member State level. I do not believe that there is demand from the co-operative sector in Ireland for a supply control measure.
The EU targeted aid package referred to by the Deputy was matched by Exchequer funding, giving a total amount of €27.4m. Some €27m has been paid to date, with a small number of outstanding cases still being examined. In total some 17,600 dairy farmers received a payment of €1,395, with c. 1,500 of these getting an additional €1,000 under a Young Farmer top up. Just under 300 pig producers have also received c.€3,300 each and my Department is considering allocating some funding under this package to the Irish Pig Society to further their work in representing smaller scale producers. Payments must be made by 30th June 2016.
A number of other market support measures have been put in place at EU level, including an increase in the ceiling for SMP intervention to 350,000 tonnes, which was sought by Ireland. In terms of input costs at farm level, I have called on the Commission to consider looking at temporary suspension of EU import tariffs on fertilisers to reduce input costs for Irish and EU farmers. I have also called for a further targeted aid package for farmers and for a facility to advance 75% of the Basic Payment Scheme to farmers in 2016 to assist with cash flow.
At a National level, there have been a number of imaginative initiatives at co-op level, including fixed price and margin contracts, and flexible financing instruments. I would like to see more of this from industry. Developing new and existing markets is also part of the solution. In this regard I intend to lead a trade mission to the Far East in the early Autumn, and dairy will be a significant feature. Work is also continuing through Teagasc, ICBF and AHI to increase farm efficiency, reduce the costs of production and increase margins. Making farmers more resilient to price volatility is key.
I have also been talking to the main banks to exercise forbearance with farmers temporarily under financial pressure, and a number of other options to improve the availability of liquidity are being explored. At today’s dairy forum I launched a new cash flow tool which will assist farmers in managing their finances and help them in engaging with banks.
I am acutely conscious of the pressure farmers are under at present, and I can assure the Deputy that I am committed to exploring all of the appropriate options for providing assistance to the farm sector through this temporary price trough. I met the dairy forum today and discussed these issues with the key stakeholders.
480. Deputy Michael Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when a person (details supplied) will receive a final year payment under the agri-environment options scheme. [16958/16]
View answerThe person named commenced their AEOS contract on 1st September 2010. Payment issued in respect of the 2010-2014 Scheme years.
Under the EU Regulations governing the Scheme and other area-based payment schemes, a comprehensive administrative check, including cross-checks with the Land Parcel Identification System must take place. As all AEOS 1 participants will be receiving their final payments under the scheme, re-checks on payments made for all scheme years must be completed before final payment can be processed. Officials are working through these files and payment will be made in all cases as soon as possible.
481. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when he will issue a payment for 2015 to a person (details supplied) under the basic payment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16980/16]
View answerThe person named submitted an application for the 2015 Basic Payment Scheme on 9 th May 2015. An issue arose in relation to the eligibility of one parcel of land. An official from my department has been in direct contact with the person named and the matter has now been satisfactorily resolved. All outstanding payments will shortly issue to the nominated bank account of the person named.
