Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 March 2019
479. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the process by which the areas of natural conservation were identified; the methodology used; if an appeal process is in place for landowners left out of the scheme who are of the view they fit the criteria for inclusion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11665/19]
View answerUnder the current Rural Development Regulation (and subsequent amendments under the Omnibus Regulation), Member States are required to change the approach to the designation of land under the Areas of Natural Constraints Scheme. Before this year, my Department had been identifying eligible areas using a range of socio economic indicators such as family farm income, population density, percentage of working population engaged in agriculture and stocking density.
From 2019, eligible areas must instead be designated using the following list of bio-physical criteria:
- Low temperature
- Dryness
- Excess soil moisture
- Limited soil drainage
- Unfavourable texture and stoniness
- Shallow rooting depth
- Poor chemical properties
- Steep slope
This process has now been completed and details in relation to the outcome have been published following a series of consultation meetings with key stakeholders.
In summary, the vast majority of land that was eligible under the existing Scheme will remain eligible under the new approach and over 2,000 townlands will now be eligible under the new approach and will be eligible to receive a payment for the first time in 2019. Some 700 townlands that would have previously been eligible are not eligible under the new designation. Farmers impacted financially by this change will receive a degressive phasing out payment in 2019 and 2020.
Farmers who hold land in townlands that are no longer eligible in 2019 have been written to, and included in this letter, is an application form to begin the process of an appeal should they wish to take up this option. This form is also available on the Department's website.
I have put an independent appeals process in place for any farmer who wishes to appeal the status of a particular townland following this process. This committee is chaired independently and also has an independent technical expert on it.
