I assume that the Deputy is referring to the assessment of certain commonage lands for payment under the Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES).
As turf cutting could potentially have a disproportionate impact on commonage scores, a protocol was put in place last year whereby the active turbary area plus a buffer zone of 100 metres was applied when delineating turbary field boundaries. This buffer is not applied where there is a distinct hydrological divide between the active turbary area and the adjacent commonage (such as, for example, a watercourse, a road or an abrupt change in slope to rocky terrain). The protocol, and the buffer as part of this, balanced the need to protect the environmental integrity of the ACRES scheme - and of the CAP Strategic Plan as a whole - and the need to ensure that commonage owners are treated in a fair and proportionate way for effective environmental action.
As previously indicated, my Department’s judgement is that this system will not have a significant overall impact on the payments received by commonage shareholders, although there may be some exceptions.
I would like to reiterate that ACRES payments are made up of other elements, including farm size, scores received on other non-commonage lands and actions chosen.
My Department is continuing to process the relevant data which will determine the amount of the ACRES payments to be made in June 2024. A summary of the scores achieved, where appropriate, will then be issued to all participants. It would be premature of my Department to inform ACRES participants of any scores before the relevant data has been fully processed.
