Written Answers Nos. 298-306
298. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the average timeframe from date of advertising to date of decision for the 76 afforestation licenses issued in April 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28995/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe average timeframe from date of advertising to date of decision for the 76 afforestation licences which issued in April 2021 was 11.5 months.
299. Deputy Verona Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason the weekly number of forestry licences issued by his Department is in decline considering the investment in additional ecologists and forest service inspectors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28997/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department receives new licence applications and issues decisions daily. Our target remains the issuing of 4,500 new licences this year. Within that, there will be fluctuations within individual weeks and months.
April was lower than other months for a variety of reasons but I expect May to show an increase and June to be higher again. Last week, the Department issued 101 new licences which was the highest week so far this year. This week's figures will also be above the weekly average for the year.
During this period, the Department also used the opportunity to issue new licences that were remitted to the Department by FAC for a new decision. We do not count these as new licences in our weekly output to avoid double-counting but I expect some 20 of these to issue this month.
300. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the status of a BEAM scheme application by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29006/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Agriculture Appeals Office operates independently of the Department.
I have been informed however that an appeal was received by the Agriculture Appeals Office on 31st July 2020 from the person named.
The decision letter from the Department to the person named was dated 30th September 2019 and, in accordance with the provisions of the Agriculture Appeals Regulations (SI 193 of 2002), the person named had three months from the date of this letter to submit an appeal to the Agriculture Appeals Office.
As the appeal was not received by the Appeals Office until 31st July 2020, the appeal was not accepted as valid by the Office as it was submitted seven months late.
The Director of Agriculture Appeals may accept an appeal where she considers that there are exceptional circumstances leading to late submission of an appeal. I am informed that, having examined the evidence presented, the Director did not consider there to be exceptional circumstances that caused the appeal to be submitted late in this case.
301. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the estimated cost of the ecology input in approving a forestry licence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29007/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe amount of ecology input required to approve a forest licence varies from application to application. Some sites are more complex than others depending on hydrological connections that might exists or the extent of potential interactions with qualifying interests and features of interest associated with the neighbouring European sites. Some applications screened in for appropriate assessment may have multiple European sites to be assessed by the ecologist while others may only have one.
The average cost of ecology input into a single file is between €800 and €900 per appoved licence issued. This figure is based on the total cost of ecologists engaged by the Department during the period January to April 2021 combined with the total number of licences issued during that time requiring ecology input. The calculation includes the Department's own ecologists as well as contract ecologists.
302. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will increase the level of grants to farmers for farm sheds due to the recent increases in the cost of materials; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29033/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere are a wide variety of items available under the suite of seven measures under TAMS II. To date, total expenditure under the seven measures of the TAMS, including transitional expenditure, has reached in excess of €286m with commitments of an additional €157m made to scheme participants who have yet to draw down those commitments.
The rate of grant aid is set at 40% except in the case of qualified young farmers where the rate of grant aid available to such farmers is increased to 60%. As regards the costings of individual items available under all the TAMS schemes, these costings are currently being reviewed. Any changes identified to the costings will be considered once this review process has been completed.
303. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the extent to which health and safety will feature in planned future farming schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29056/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraTo highlight the importance of farm safety, the Government assigned my ministerial colleague, Martin Heydon, TD the specific responsibility for Farm Safety in his portfolio.
The next CAP Strategic Plan is currently under development in the Department and it is through this that new schemes will be put in place. The SWOT and Needs assessment process has been completed and Health and Safety has been identified as an area that requires further attention. I, along with Minister of State Heydon, expect to see Health and Safety feature strongly in our training programmes for farmers and advisors as well as through the various measures from on farm investments to livestock handling.
Under the current Rural Development Programme (RDP), health and safety is incorporated into the on-farm investment scheme (TAMS) with support available for a wide range of safety measures and equipment. Health and safety is also a key element of all training and knowledge transfer schemes for farmers and advisors. This year, under the transitional arrangements, I have secured funding of €1m to consider innovative solutions to Health and Safety under the locally led Innovation Partnership model (EIP’s). I intend to take the learnings from these projects and see how they can inform our policy and supports for health and safety in any future measures.
304. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the supports that are available to beekeepers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29059/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraI fully acknowledge the important contribution bees make to agriculture and biodiversity as both pollinators and honey producers. In this regard, the Department provides a range of supports and initiatives to encourage and assist beekeepers and the national beekeeping associations. The Department is also a partner in the All Ireland Pollinator Plan 2021 – 2025 and is a member of the All-Ireland Honeybee Strategy Steering Group.
The main financial support available to beekeepers is through The Scheme of Investment Aid for the Development of the Commercial Horticulture Sector. The scheme provides grants to help support the commercial horticulture sector including beekeepers. It is open to all horticultural producers and is a mechanism that can assist beekeepers invest in their apiaries and associated apiculture equipment for the future. The scheme is due to reopen for applications in October 2021. This Scheme is 100% funded by the Irish Government. Details of the scheme and eligibility requirements can be found at www.gov.ie/en/publication/b16bf-horticulture-schemes/ .
In addition, the Department also provides annual grants to Irish National Beekeepers associations to support members and branches to pursue the craft of beekeeping to the highest standards and to also inform the general public about the environmental role that bees play in maintaining Irish biodiversity and crop production.
Further support to the beekeeping sector in Ireland is provided through the National Apiculture Programme. This programme is co-funded by the Department and the EU and provides funding to carry out applied research for the Irish apiculture sector. The National Apiculture Programme was awarded to a suitable research institution to carry out research in the area. This research when concluded will be beneficial to many beekeepers in Ireland.
The Department has funded a number of studies under the Genetic Research Grant Aid Scheme looking at various aspects of honeybee species and specifically apis mellifera melliferra. In 2021, funding has been allocated for an innovative queen rearing project.
The Department also provides a bee health service, free of charge, facilitating the early detection of pests and pathogens which is key to maintaining healthy stock of bees in Ireland. This bee health service also operates the Sentinel Apiary Programme along with volunteer beekeepers throughout Ireland. The aim of the programme is to ensure the early detection of three exotic pests, Small Hive beetle (SHB), Tropilaelaps spp. and the Asian Hornet.
305. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will include organic farmers in the Rural Environmental-Agri Pilot Programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29066/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Results-based Environmental-Agri Pilot (REAP) project is a short-term transitional measure which uses additional funding secured in Budget 2021 for farmers for this year. This necessitated a quick turnaround and I am happy to confirm that the project is on track despite the extremely tight timeframe. It has now closed and the Department is currently assessing the applications.
Driving the organic farming sector is also a key priority for the Deaprtment and we have set an ambitious target in the Programme for Government to bring the participation rate up to the EU average during the lifetime of this Government. The main support available to organic farmers is the Organic Farming Scheme which we rolled over to this year by providing an extra year's contract to all particpants.
We also reopened it this year to new entrants and a further 317 applications were received to join the latest tranche of the scheme.
In terms of particpation in both schemes, double funding under schemes is prohibited under EU regulations which was a consideration in limiting REAP to farmers who are not in any of the schemes or projects such as GLAS and Organics.
306. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Rural and Community Development if the community service programme is open to new applicants; and if so, the process for a community group to apply for funding. [29028/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department's Community Services Programme (CSP) supports over 420 community organisations to provide local services through a social enterprise model. The CSP provides an annual co-funding contribution of €19,033 for each fulltime equivalent (FTE) position being supported, and, where warranted, provides €32,000 towards the cost of employing a manager. Qualifying organisations must be social enterprises capable of generating income from their activities in order to meet the full salary costs of the supported posts, for example, from income received from the public use of facilities and services.
In 2020, Indecon International Economic Consultants carried out an independent review of the CSP on behalf of my Department. The final report was published in September 2020 and is available on my Department's website. My Department and Pobal have commenced work on the restructuring of the Programme, in association with the CSP Consultative Group. Pending the transition to the new restructured Programme, the scheme is closed to new applications through the Expression Of Interest process. However, it is anticipated that the Programme will facilitate new entrants via calls to address identified gaps in service delivery later in 2021.
As a first step in that regard, on 28 April, my Department, in collaboration with the Department for Transport, launched a three-year pilot initiative for the provision of high quality up-cycled bicycles and e-bikes for those on low incomes and/or those who are most marginalised and disadvantaged.
Funding of €3m is being provided by the Department of Transport for this initiative over a three-year period and will be made available through my Department's Community Services Programme.
Applications are now being sought from eligible organisations for inclusion on this programme. Organisations eligible to apply are those currently supported under the Community Services Programme or alternatively are in a Partnership/Consortium of which at least one member is currently a CSP supported organisation.
It is envisaged that the pilot will support up to 6 social enterprises in 2021. Full details of the scheme and the necessary application form are available on the Department's website. The closing date for applications is noon, 28 May.
