Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 14 April 2015

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Basic Payment Scheme and GLAS: Discussion

2:00 pm

Photo of Paul ConnaughtonPaul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the delegations.

It is simply not acceptable that seven weeks out we still do not know what the criteria will be for the scheme in question. For those with concerns hanging over their heads, as Deputy Seán Kyne said, it would be a brave man who would say what was in and what was out. Unfortunately, in south Galway there are plenty of examples of commonages that have not been treated fairly for several years. It is unacceptable that in certain commonages forage areas were rated at 90% in the first inspection, at 10% in the next inspection and at 40% after an appeal. It is simply ridiculous that there can be such a disparity in different inspections. It is no wonder that farmers who are affected are going around the bend. Once we hear about farmers taking legal action, the battle has already been lost and we have forced them into that corner in the first place. That is the reality in certain areas.

On the designation of lands to protect the hen harrier, during the economic good times when we were awash with money, it was good to pay compensation on derogated lands.

Now that the money has run out, the land is still designated and we are not paying farmers who now find their farming practices completely hampered by what they are asked to do. A very simple measure needs to be taken, either pay out the compensation deserved or lift the designation. It is a case of doing one or the other as the current position is simply no longer acceptable.

I refer to commonage and the problem with forage. Anyone farming in a commonage area or an area under designation knows there is a huge difference between those who can farm 24-7 for 52 weeks of the year on their land. One inspection will never be enough. I find that some of the farmers in commonage areas must be damn good photographers to go out and get pictures of when there were animals on their farms to prove they were being grazed at the right time. What is going on currently is crazy. The penalty and inspection regime is over the top and over-zealous. There is a complete lack of clarity on it. What we will find, unfortunately, is more farmers spending less time on the land and more time in the courts and no one will win from that situation; neither the Department nor the farming community. Not only do we need clarity in the next seven weeks as to where we are on this situation but commonages and other areas which are currently facing or approaching legal action must be sorted out by the Department sooner rather than later. It has been said before that the NPWS has a role to play in this regard. We cannot continue to have a situation where the Department throws it to the NPWS which then throws it back. The person caught in the middle is the farmer who does not get the grants. While we need clarity in the next seven weeks, both Departments must come back and set out a very clear plan for what has gone on in the last number of years because things are not acceptable at the moment.

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