John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

The regulations governing the single payment scheme provide that farmers for whom single payment entitlements were established had to activate those entitlements in 2005 by submitting a single payment application in that year. Entitlements not activated in 2005 are surrendered to the national reserve. Additionally, having activated their entitlements in 2005, farmers are required to use their single payment entitlements within three years and any entitlements not used for three years are surrendered to the national reserve. In order to use entitlements each year, farmers are required to declare one hectare of eligible land for each entitlement held. The total value of entitlements not activated in 2005 is €4.5 million.

In March 2007, my Department wrote to farmers who had not used their entitlements in 2005 or 2006 reminding them that, if they did not use them in 2007, these unused entitlements would be surrendered to the national reserve. The final figure for the value of entitlements unused for the three years will not be known until processing of the 2007 single payment scheme is completed.

My Department will again write to all farmers who hold entitlements and have not used them in either 2005, 2006 or 2007 to give them an opportunity to submit any observations they may wish to make. Any observations made can be taken into account before a final decision is taken to permanently surrender the entitlements to the national reserve. It is possible that some farmers were not in a position to use the entitlements for reasons of force majeure — exceptional circumstances — and in such cases, the entitlements in question will not be forfeited to the national reserve.

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