Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 February 2024
510. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of farmers in County Donegal that have applied for the areas of natural constraints scheme, under the current CAP; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6470/24]
View answer511. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of farmers in County Donegal that have been accepted on to the areas of natural constraints scheme, under the current CAP; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6471/24]
View answer512. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine how much the aggregate total of payments to County Donegal farmers will be under the areas of natural constraint scheme, for each year of the current CAP; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6472/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 510 to 512, inclusive, together.
The Areas of Natural Constraints ("ANC") scheme provides payments to people farming land in designated areas that face significant hardship from factors such as remoteness, difficult topography, climatic problems, and poor soil conditions.
The table below outlines the information requested by the Deputy for ANC scheme year 2023.
|
County |
Number Applied |
Number Accepted |
Number Paid |
Gross Paid |
|
Donegal |
8,831 |
8,831 |
8,286 |
€23,933,395 |
It should be noted that applicants accepted and remaining unpaid have not met scheme eligibility criteria and are therefore ineligible for payment.
ANC scheme eligibility criteria include:
• Hold ANC designated land in accordance with the provisions of Article 32 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013, as provided for under Article 71 of Regulation (EU) No 2021/2115.
• Meet the minimum stocking requirement of 0.10 livestock units per forage hectare
The aggregate payment amount for applicants in Donegal for ANC 2023 scheme year is €23,933,395.
The ANC scheme is an annual scheme and must be applied for each year using the online Basic Income Support for Sustainability (“BISS”) application. Applications for future ANC CAP years i.e. 2024-2027 can be made from February in the scheme year an applicant is applying for. As such, the DAFM are currently unable to reliably forecast the payments for these years.
