The position is that Single Payment entitlements are not attached to land but are the property of the farmer who was farming during the reference period 2000-2002, who was in receipt of direct payments under one or more of the Livestock Premium and/or Arable Aid schemes and who claimed the entitlements by submitting a Single Payment application form in 2005.
Entitlements may be sold with or without land but can only be sold without land once 80% have been used in one calendar year. On the other hand entitlements may only be leased to another farmer if accompanied by an equivalent number of hectares of eligible land. Entitlements may also of course be transferred with or without land by gift or through inheritance.
In order to transfer entitlements by way of sale, lease, gift, or inheritance, a transfer of entitlements application form must be completed and submitted to my Department. The application form to be completed by farmers engaged in transferring entitlements for the 2007 Single Payment Scheme year is available on my Department's website www.agriculture.gov.ie.