Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 July 2017
1191. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the details of the new guidelines on the subsidy for the ownership of donkeys which is now only available if the donkey was in the ownership of the farmer before May of the year in question; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35708/17]
View answerUnder the 2017 Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC) scheme, applicants are required to farm, manage and pursue a farming activity on all land applied on in 2017 for the full calendar year. In addition to this requirement applicants are also required to maintain a minimum livestock density of 0.15 livestock units per forage hectare applied, calculated over the twelve months of the scheme year. The minimum retention period for maintaining the requisite livestock density is seven consecutive months, so therefore livestock moved to the holding after the 31 May 2017 cannot be used in the seven month retention calculation but shall be counted towards the annual total.
Livestock may take the form of cattle, sheep, goats, deer, donkeys and horses from a breeding enterprise or a combination of same. For those applicants seeking to include donkeys to fulfil stocking density requirements, they are required to ensure that the donkey in question is owned by the applicant and registered in the name of the applicant and maintained on his/her holding. These requirements are set out in the Terms and Conditions of the Scheme which have been circulated to all farmers.
