Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 June 2016
488. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of the reopening of the revised green low-carbon agri-environment scheme (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18381/16]
View answerThe overall target for GLAS is to attract 50,000 farmers into the scheme. I am pleased to confirm that some 38,000 farmers have been approved into the first two Tranches of GLAS, 26,500 in GLAS 1 and 11,500 in GLAS 2. This means that there is an opportunity to achieve the participation targets for the scheme through a third tranche of the Scheme. I intend to launch this third GLAS tranche (GLAS 3) later this year and all farmers not already in the scheme, including those who were unsuccessful in their applications for the first two tranches will have the opportunity to submit a new application to GLAS 3 when the scheme opens. I want to reiterate that when preparing applications, it is important that farmers, in consultation with their advisors, ensure that the highest standard environmental plans are presented to the Department, to increase their chance of selection into GLAS 3.
