Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 October 2023
460. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Questions answered on 20 September 2023 (details supplied), at what time/date in the year the applicant will receive confirmation that they are an approved participant in BISS; if this will act as a deterrent for new entrants to farming engaging in the afforestation scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42105/23]
View answer461. Deputy Matt Shanahan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 740, 744, 748, 754, 760, 772, 773, 776 and 778 of 20 September 2023, the reason that the farmer definition, as defined by his Department, only applies to the afforestation scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42149/23]
View answer462. Deputy Matt Shanahan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 740, 744, 748, 754, 760, 772, 773, 776 and 778 of 20 September 2023, in stating that “my Department currently does not have the figures available for the number of new farmers for 2023, these figures will not be known until the Department make final approvals In November 2023” if he will commit to answering the original question once the figures are known in November (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42150/23]
View answer464. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 740, 744, 748, 754, 760, 772, 773, 776 and 778 of 20 September 2023, and his reply, in stating that he wants to ensure that the farmer deferential benefits farmers directly and exclusively, if other landowners recognised and registered as carrying out a farming activity in other sections of his Department are not actually recognised as farmers by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42157/23]
View answer465. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 740, 744, 748, 754, 760, 772, 773, 776 and 778 of 20 September 2023, to provide necessary documentation to show that considerations were made regarding the implications of the farmer definition as it appears in the scheme document, considering the clarifications sought by stakeholders; to confirm that his Department has not changed any of the rules on farmer definition since the launch of the scheme document; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42158/23]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 460, 461, 462, 464 and 465 together.
The farmer definition remains as published in the scheme document as follows:
Applicants that can pass the Departments Active farmer check and that are an approved member of Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS) scheme in the application year and a member of either BISS or Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) in the previous four years will be considered a farmer for this scheme. All other applicants will be deemed to be non-farmers for the purposes of this scheme.
‘Active Farmer’ means the applicant claiming payments on the land must be the applicant farming and/or managing the land, that is, the Active Farmer. The farming activities can include meeting a minimum stocking rate (0.10 livestock unit per forage hectare), producing crops, cutting hay/silage, maintaining landscape features
We have issued clarification on this in terms of new and young farmers. It is the case that new and young farmers who do not meet the criteria to be in BISS or BPS the previous four years will only need to be in BISS or BPS from the year they were approved members of either the Young Farmer schemes or the National Reserve for new and young farmer schemes until the year of their afforestation application. This will continue for the lifetime of the Afforestation Scheme 2023 – 2027. We are currently updating the Afforestation Scheme document and FAQs to reflect this clarification. My Department is happy to continue to clarify the conditions and details of the comprehensive new forestry programme with stakeholders and interested parties and to update relevant documentation accordingly.
The intent of the farmer definition is to ensure that the differential in terms of number of years in receipt of premiums (20 year for farmers, 15 years for non-farmers) is targeted at farmers. The criteria for farmer qualification will ensure that major enterprises that are not core farming entities will not unintentionally benefit from the farmer differential. By virtue of this definition a farmer who submits a valid BISS or BPS is a person farming and/or managing the land. We have received in the region of 125,000 to 128,000 such applications in recent years.
I would clarify that an applicant self-declares as a farmer when lodging an afforestation application. Their status as a farmer will not be verified at approval stage and therefore the timeline for lodging a BISS application, which is usually in May, will not affect the processing and issuing of a licence. This farmer status will be verified at payment stage, once the forest has been planted.
When the number of new farmers for 2023 is known I am happy to inform the Deputy of these official numbers.
