I propose to take Questions Nos. 1952, 1953 and 1954 together.
Burning of land between 1st March and 31st August (which is the closed season) in any year is prohibited under section 40 of the Wildlife Act, 1976 as amended by the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000.
It is specified in the Basic Payment Scheme Terms and Conditions that land burnt during the closed season in any given year, is not eligible for the purpose of payment under the Basic Payment Scheme.
As required under EU Regulations, all applications under the Basic Payment Scheme are subject to robust administrative checks prior to payment. Only valid applications under the Basic Payment Scheme that fully comply with the requirements of the EU legislation are paid.
As part of these required administrative checks, my Department assesses satellite imagery from a range of sources, including FIRMS1, EFFIS2 , along with a manual review by operators of Sentinel3 imagery, to identify lands burned during the closed period. Any area within a land parcel that is identified as being subject to burning in this time period, is deemed ineligible and as a result the eligible area of the parcel is reduced. The applicant is notified of this reduction and their right of review to this reduction. Follow-up field visits are undertaken by inspecting officers from my Department where required. In addition, my Department regularly issues advice and reminders directly to farmers on the negative consequences of burning land illegally including that it may give rise to an overclaim for the farmer.
Such an overclaim will result in a reduction in the eligible area. In addition, as required under the EU Regulations, further administrative penalties are applied where the area over-claimed is greater than 3% of the area declared or more than 2 hectares. Full details of how the administrative penalties are calculated can be found in the published Helpsheet and Terms and Conditions
assets.gov.ie/123734/290d843d-906d-438a-854e-00eec09fee34.pdf
The collection of statistics in relation to burnt land under the Basic Payment Scheme commenced in 2017 and are set out in table 1 below. It should be noted that these applicant's payments in respect of other area-based schemes (e.g. Areas facing Natural Constraints, GLAS, Organics) may also have been impacted by the reduction in the eligible area. It is important to note that in certain cases the land subject to burning has no impact on the applicant's payments.
Table 1:
County
|
*2017
|
*2018
|
*2019
|
*2020
|
*2021
|
Carlow
|
|
|
|
52
|
54
|
Cavan
|
|
|
|
7
|
2
|
Clare
|
|
|
1
|
3
|
|
Cork
|
3
|
2
|
3
|
34
|
48
|
Donegal
|
23
|
|
22
|
3
|
10
|
Dublin
|
13
|
|
12
|
|
|
Galway
|
39
|
|
12
|
25
|
29
|
Kerry
|
17
|
|
40
|
71
|
41
|
Kildare
|
|
1
|
|
2
|
|
Kilkenny
|
|
|
|
|
6
|
Laois
|
|
|
|
|
31
|
Leitrim
|
4
|
|
|
3
|
|
Limerick
|
|
|
15
|
|
|
Longford
|
|
|
2
|
1
|
|
Louth
|
|
|
|
21
|
|
Mayo
|
44
|
|
257
|
73
|
41
|
Meath
|
|
|
|
|
|
Monaghan
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
Offaly
|
|
|
1
|
|
|
Roscommon
|
|
|
|
17
|
|
Sligo
|
29
|
|
|
12
|
|
Tipperary
|
2
|
|
42
|
1
|
2
|
Waterford
|
|
|
|
|
21
|
Westmeath
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wexford
|
|
|
|
28
|
22
|
Wicklow
|
5
|
|
1
|
32
|
27
|
Total
|
179
|
3
|
408
|
385
|
335
|
- 2017 includes 62 applications where there was no impact on the BPS payment.
- 2018 includes 2 applications where there was no impact on the BPS payment.
- 2019 includes 293 applications where there was no impact on the BPS payment.
- 2020 includes 209 applications where there was no impact on the BPS payment.
- 2021 includes 169 applications where there was no impact on the BPS payment.
Of these 335 applications, 166 gave rise to a reduction/penalty on the applicant's 2021 BPS payment as set out in table 2 below.
Table 2:
-
|
No of Applications
|
Appeals (as of 11/01/2022)
|
Partially successful appeals (as of 11/01/2022)
|
No Financial Impact/No reduction
|
169
|
25
|
0
|
Reduction only
|
47
|
11
|
0
|
Reduction and administrative penalty
|
119
|
89
|
76
|
Total
|
335
|
125
|
76
|
Please note that these figures will be subject to change due to ongoing reviews and appeals.
Each applicant has a right of appeal, and each appeal is examined on its own its based on the information provided to the appeals officer by the applicant. Of the 125 appeals received by my Department to date in respect of 2021 applications, 76 cases had the administrative penalty waived.
However, it should be noted that the burnt area is still considered ineligible and a reduction in payment may result. It should also be noted that where an applicant is dis-satisfied with the outcome of an appeal, they have further right of appeal with the independent Agricultural Appeals Office.
Footnotes.
FIRMS: Fire Information for Resource Management - earthdata.nasa.gov/earth-observation-data/near-real-time/firms
EFFIS: European Forest Fire Information System - effis.jrc.ec.europa.eu/
Sentinel: Imagery provided by Copernicus - www.copernicus.eu/en