Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 July 2018
1951. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his plans to introduce grant aid for land drainage for farmers due to severe wet weather; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34049/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Office of Public Works have a Mitigation Works and Coastal Protection funding scheme which is in place since 2009, specifically aimed at addressing the issue of minor flood protection interventions.
A review of the scheme was conducted in 2017 and a number of improvements to the scheme were announced. Amongst these are the provisions that farm yards/buildings are included as commercial premises in all categories for the first time. The upper financial threshold was also increased significantly from €500,000 to €750,000 per project. More details of the scheme are available from the offices of the OPW. In addition, the OPW have an on-going scheme of arterial drainage maintenance which benefits 650,000 acres of agricultural land.
The budget for the Targeted Agriculture Modernisation scheme (TAMS) is fully committed under our Rural Development Programme. Support for land drainage is not included as an eligible item in the current Rural Development Programme for 2014 - 2020.
It must also be recognised that any such measure would require full compliance with environmental requirements including the need for a full Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for the entirety of Ireland and Appropriate Assessments for all potentially affected Natura Areas. Environmental requirements in any potential measure would be significant as would the challenge of securing European Commission approval.
