Vol. 498 No. 1
193 Mr. McCormack asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if his attention has been drawn to the fact that REP scheme payments are not being paid to applicants with commonage lands and this rule is being applied even in cases where the commonage is not designated as part of a national heritage area or special area of conservation; and if payment of all outstanding plans or revised plans in cases involving non designated commonages will be approved. [26597/98]
The revised REP scheme requires that a framework plan be drawn up for all commonage land not only those commonages which have been designated as part of a natural heritage area or special area of conservation. The preparation of the framework plans will be carried out under the supervision of my Department and the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands. It will take some time before framework plans will be available for all commonages.
In the meantime, as I announced recently, interim arrangements have been agreed between my Department and the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands to put a national commonage framework plan in place pending the completion of individual commonage framework plans. The national plan involves a destocking of mountain ewes equivalent to 30 per cent of the quota held in 1998 for flock holders who use commonage in six counties, Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Mayo, Galway and Kerry, that is those counties identified as having overgrazed commonages. Plans prepared under the national framework plan will be reviewed when the individual commonage framework plans are available in 1999.
The revised REP scheme provides that farmers with commonage land who are already in the scheme or who join the scheme in the future can avail of the higher rates of compensation of £80 per acre for the first 100 acres with additional payments for the next 200 acres on the basis of the national framework plan and the other conditions of the revised scheme. It has been necessary to revise the scheme document and the agrienvironmental specifications to take account of the new measure. These, along with application forms, will be available from my Department's farm development services offices shortly opening the way to the implementation of the revised REPS.
Existing participants in REPS with commonage lands can be paid as heretofore until the implementation of the revised REP scheme. However, where plans involving commonage have been amended, these must conform to the new arrangements before further payments can be made. All new applicants with commonage who had not received a letter of acceptance into the scheme on or before 28 July are required to conform to the new arrangements.
