Mr. Paud Evans:

Dr. Bleasdale will answer this question much more professionally than I will. The Senator spoke about under- and overgrazing in the same commonage. My understanding is that to a certain extent that is to do with undergrazing. The sheep will go to the same area time and again where the vegetation is there to be grazed. That is one issue, but there are others, because the same commonages can be under- and overgrazed.

The Senator raised the issue of GAEC across the schemes. Since 2005, in order to benefit from any of the direct payment schemes or the agri-environment schemes, the lands on which one is paid must be eligible and must be maintained in GAEC. That applies to REPS and the agri-environment options scheme. The Senator also raised a point, which is the nub of the issue, about dormant and inactive people. That will need a lot of thought, because it is a concern. We have discussed this problem more with the farmers who farm the commonage lands than with the farming organisations, because they are the people to talk to about this. There is an issue there but I am not sure it is as big an issue as our concern suggests because in many cases the inactive guy who is still benefiting from a payment for the common land will not put sheep back up there. He has to buy and breed sheep to go up on the common land. In many cases he or she would have to prepare his or her lowland for the maintenance of sheep for certain times of the year, and that involves quite expensive wiring of the land. There are several issues to consider. If we work in partnership with the individual farmers who are actually farming the commonages, many of these issues will be sorted out almost on a commonage-by-commonage basis.