Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 July 2016
246. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will reverse the 50% cut to participants in respect of low input grassland pasture and the suspension of hedge planting under the green low-carbon agri-environment scheme 2. [21609/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe GLAS scheme contributes to the achievement of key European Commission priorities in the areas of biodiversity, water quality and climate change.
On the basis of the applications received under Tranche 1 of GLAS, we met or exceeded our targets for the entire RDP period for some GLAS actions. These include the Low Input Permanent Pasture and the Planting of New Hedgerows actions. As a result of this, some amendments were required for Tranche 2 of GLAS and the LIPP action was limited to 5 hectares and the Planting of New Hedgerows action was suspended. The decisions made regarding the LIPP and Planting of New Hedgerows actions remain but will be reviewed before the roll out of Tranche 3 of the scheme. Any review must maintain a balance in delivering on the scheme priorities as set out in the Rural Development Programme.
