I take the opportunity, at the outset, to again emphasise both my own and the Government’s commitment to the agri-environment schemes as operated by my Department. These schemes put environmentally friendly farming at the forefront and recognise the vital role farmers play in delivering public goods and in protecting the environment and the natural heritage for the benefit of society as a whole. This commitment is evident in the fact that more than €750 million was spent by my Department on agri-environment schemes in 2010, 2011 and 2012 alone and also in the fact that, despite the financial pressures facing my Department, I provided for a further €200 million in funding in 2013 for expenditure under the rural environment protection scheme, REPS, and the agri-environment options scheme, which is commonly known as AEOS. I also decided to make €20 million available annually to reopen AEOS to new entrants in 2012. A total of 9,703 applications were received by my Department under the reopened scheme and 6,000 have now been approved to participate in the scheme.
The approval of applicants was determined by the level of funding available and on the basis of certain priority selection criteria as set out in the published scheme documentation. Applicants within a targeted area of the Boora region of County Offaly who select wild bird cover option B - grey partridge - will get first access; applicants with eligible Natura land are the next to get access; applicants with at least half a hectare of utilisable agricultural non-Natura commonage land are next; and these are followed by farm partnerships, those with previous participation in REPS, those with farms of a particular size based on the utilisable agricultural area, favouring smaller holdings, and farms located in less favoured areas.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
All approved applicants have been accepted with a commencement date of 1 May 2013. The new contracts will run for a period of five years and eight months, which will extend their duration beyond the expiry of the current programme period of 31 December 2013. Participants in the scheme will be offered the opportunity to adjust their commitments for the remainder of the period of their contract to the legal framework of the new programme period. The policy framework that will apply in the next period is under discussion at EU level. If such an adjustment is not acceptable to the participant, he or she may withdraw from the schemes without any requirement for reimbursement of aid already received.
A total of 4,483 applicants selecting grey partridge, Natura and commonage actions were approved for the scheme and the remaining 1,517 applicants selected had all previously participated in REPS and had a reference area of 22.06 ha. or less on their 2012 single payment scheme application. The table sets out the number of persons in each county who were recently approved to participate in the agri-environment options scheme.
Approvals to participate in AEOS, May 2013
County
|
Total
|
Carlow
|
25
|
Cavan
|
139
|
Clare
|
357
|
Cork
|
317
|
Donegal
|
1061
|
Dublin
|
5
|
Galway
|
1007
|
Kerry
|
619
|
Kildare
|
16
|
Kilkenny
|
31
|
Laois
|
26
|
Leitrim
|
279
|
Limerick
|
116
|
Longford
|
42
|
Louth
|
23
|
Mayo
|
997
|
Meath
|
32
|
Monaghan
|
68
|
Offaly
|
68
|
Roscommon
|
275
|
Sligo
|
220
|
Tipperary
|
92
|
Waterford
|
54
|
Westmeath
|
58
|
Wexford
|
27
|
Wicklow
|
46
|
Total
|
6000
|