Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 June 2021
538. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the single farm payment belongs on the land of the lessor in circumstances (details supplied); and if he can interfere with a lease contract freely entered into and decide that the value of the single payment data is the property of the lessee in spite of the contract. [29437/21]
View answerUnder the milk quota system, the milk quota was attached to lands used for milk production in 1983 – the milk quota reference year - and quota that was attached to leased (or rented) lands was transferred to the lessee at the end of the lease agreement.
The question also references the single farm payment – in accordance with the provisions of the relevant EU regulations, Single farm payment entitlements were allocated to farmers in 2005 based on the amount of payments made to a farmer and the land declared as farmed by that farmer during the 2000-2002 period. Land that was declared as either owned or rented by the applicant was counted in the calculation of the entitlements. The single farm payment was “attached” to the farmer and did not “attach” to lands.
In the details supplied by the Deputy, the standard lease provision quoted refers to milk quota and how it was to be treated when a lease was expired or terminated. This has no relevance to the question of ownership of single payment entitlements. Clauses in a private contract freely entered into between two parties that contravene those conditions remain for the parties to the contract to resolve.
