Michael Ring
Ceist:283 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food when Dúchas will send out framework document details to all the individual herd owners affected. [15921/02]
Written Answers. - Dúchas Framework Document.
Michael Ring
Ceist:332 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if his Department will ascertain from Dúchas, when a person (details supplied) in County Galway will be notified of their destocking rate. [16311/02]
Michael Ring
Ceist:341 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if his Department will ascertain from Dúchas the reason for the delay in sending out framework document details to individual herdowners in view of the fact that this information was supposed to be available from August 2002. [16561/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 283, 332 and 341 together.
Details of approximately 90% of the commonage framework plans were published in February this year and these showed,inter alia, the percentage overgrazing on each commonage. Following their publication, the stocking level of individual farmers would then have to be adjusted to reflect the overgrazing percentage. Farmers already in REPS would have their existing REPS plan revised taking into account the overgrazing percentage in the commonage framework plan. Farmers not in REPS would be required to join, or apply to join in 2003, either the REP scheme or a national scheme to be operated by the Dúchas service of the Department of the Environment and Local Government and their individual stocking levels would be established within the relevant scheme.
My Department recognised that the recalculation of individual stocking levels of the 4,500 farmers who are participating in the REPS scheme and the calculation, from scratch, of the stocking levels of the 3,500 farmers not in REPS, would take some considerable time.
In order to speed up the process of providing farmers with their new stocking levels, it was decided to perform a preliminary desktop calculation of the new stocking levels for every farmer, using the data available to it together with the results of the commonage framework plans. Farmers would then know the stocking levels they could maintain for 2003 onwards and plan accordingly. The preliminary calculation would save the farmers the immediate cost of having the stocking levels calculated by a planner. The saving would be most beneficial to those farmers not in REPS where the cost of establishing and calculating their stocking levels would have to be undertakenab initio. All farmers impacted by the commonage framework plans and not already in REPS, will, have to join, or apply to join, REPS or the national scheme in 2003.
While commonage framework plans and the preliminary calculation of individual stocking levels have now been completed for most commonages, I am anxious that notifications to all farmers should issue at the same time. I am hopeful that this will be possible shortly allowing the preliminary calculations to issue to the farmers involved including the person named. Farmers will then have three options: (a) accept the preliminary calculation; (b) consult with an approved planner to have the calculation reviewed or (c) undertake not to use the commonage land as forage area. Commonage land excluded under (c) will not be used in calculations to determine any payments under the area based compensatory allowance scheme, the REP scheme or the extensification scheme.