Eligibility for the various area-based schemes operated by the Department is governed by EU Regulations. One of the specific pillars of land eligibility is that the land must be an agricultural area, which is defined as either permanent grassland, permanent crops or arable land.
However, within the current CAP there is provision for certain non-agricultural areas to be deemed eligible in limited circumstances. The main example of this would be small areas of scrub or rock within the landscape.
At present, where a parcel of land has less than 10% scrub or rock, no reductions are made from the eligible area. Further rules with regard to how these reductions are managed are set out under The Reduction Coefficient Procedure section of the booklet entitled The Guide Land Eligibility which was sent to all Basic Payment Scheme applicants and is available at the following link, assets.gov.ie/120268/2e4c4b6a-62b2-4985-821d-780d2a3ab2b8.pdf
The CAP Strategic Plan was submitted to the European Commission on 31st December 2021 and my Department is currently in discussions with officials from the Commission about the details of land eligibility. One of the specific topics up for discussion is the issue of scattered features such as scrub and rock within parcels and how best to manage and deal with such features.
It is clear that rock and specifically rock in areas such as the Burren and Aran Islands are a critical and integral part of the landscape and will need to be considered carefully in the new CAP.
