Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 October 2017
298. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason a person (details supplied) has been refused the young farmer entitlements and benefits, and additional entitlements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44932/17]
View answerThe person named submitted an application to my Department under the 2017 Young Farmers Scheme. This scheme provides for a payment to successful applicants per eligible activated payment entitlement, subject to a maximum of 50 entitlements. The person named did not submit an application under the 2017 National Reserve. The National Reserve provides for an allocation of payment entitlement at national average value on land for which the applicant holds no entitlements and/or a top-up to the value of existing entitlements held where such entitlements have a value below the National Reserve national average.
Under the EU Regulations governing the operation of the Young Farmers Scheme, a young farmer is defined as a person under 40 years of age in the year of submission of their first application under the Basic Payment Scheme, and who is setting up an agricultural holding for the first time or has set up such a holding during the five years preceding the first submission of the Basic Payment Scheme application.
Records held by my Department show that the person named was allocated a herd number separate to the one shown above on the 10th June 2002 and there was farming activity carried out by the person named under this separate herd number following its allocation to him in 2002. On that basis the person named is deemed to have commenced agricultural activity more than five years prior to the submission of his first application under the Basic Payment Scheme. The person named was notified of this decision in writing on 28th September 2017 and was offered the opportunity to appeal this decision within 14 days. To date there is no record of such an appeal having been received by my Department.
Among the eligibility criteria to qualify for the 60% grant rate in the Young Farmer Capital Investment Scheme in TAMS II, an applicant must meet the requirements of set-up for the first time within five years of the date of receipt of an application under this scheme and be not more than 40 years of age. No application has been submitted by the person named under any of the TAMS II schemes to date.
