Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 February 2022
460. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will address concerns that farmers are having their entitlements cut when mountain fires destroy sections of their land; the reason they are unable to claim for the destroyed land when the cause of the fire was unrelated to any actions by the farmers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10538/22]
View answerBurning 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 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 is informed of their right of review to this reduction. Follow-up field visits may 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 (available at the following link, assets.gov.ie/215182/555fe54e-2908-4102-b685-6f1b2de9125e.pdf).
Each applicant has a right of appeal, and each appeal is examined on its own merits based on the information provided by the applicant. It should also be noted that where an applicant is dissatisfied with the outcome of an appeal, they have further right of appeal with the independent Agriculture Appeals Office.
