GLAS Administration

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 November 2015

Tuesday, 10 November 2015

Ceisteanna (251)

Jim Daly

Ceist:

251. Deputy Jim Daly asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is aware of the case of persons (details supplied) who applied for the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme who wish to fence a watercourse but cannot due to the exclusion of an existing watercourse from the mapping system produced by the Environmental Protection Agency, and used in this scheme; if there are other instances of mapping errors, such as the one highlighted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39073/15]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

The first thing to note is that not all watercourses are automatically eligible for GLAS: only those watercourses which are shown on the GLAS mapping system, and which were identified to my Department by the EPA, are eligible to be considered.

The dedicated online GLAS System has a Draft Online Application recorded for the person named. The application was never submitted to my Department therefore it cannot be considered under GLAS 1. My Department officials have examined the issue in relation to the land parcel number provided and found that the GLAS system does allow for watercourses to be mapped and selected for the protection of watercourses from bovine action on this parcel and the question of an error on the mapping system does not arise.