Séamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail)

The first observation, which I should have made earlier in my contribution, is that this is a classic case of the devil being in the detail. The teasing out of the detail of these proposals will be vitally important and before final judgment is passed on the document we will need to get some of that detail. There has been much speculation in the media recently about the use of 2014 as a reference year for the establishment of entitlements. Under the proposal, new payment entitlements will be allocated in 2014 to active farmers who used at least one payment entitlement in 2011.

In terms of the reference year, the 2014 versus 2011 argument is fundamental and while I know the original proposal was 2014, the year 2011 was referred to in that unless the claims or payments were made in that year applications will not be considered. It is clear this aspect requires clarity because the rental and leased land will be hugely problematic for farmers who depend on it to expand and keep their operations going.

On the definition of an active farmer, we had definitions in previous CAP packages but will there be any change in the definition having regard to the fact that we are into an area based payments system? On the greening measures, what is the position regarding a dairy farmer or a beef farmer who re-seeds his land on a fairly regular basis? It is clear there will be a period of time in which the land will not be available for grazing because of the re-seeding process.

On crop rotation, people in tillage who grow cereals rotate with potato growers and in many instances lease land to major potato growers, which I am sure happens in the Minister of State's constituency on a regular basis. It suits individual farmers who have a tillage business to rotate with potato growers. How will that work out? Will it affect the area based payment arrangement?

Also on the greening measures, if individual farmers happen to have suitable sites for wind turbines does the Minister envisage any way that payment or grant aid can be given to those farmers where it is expedient and wise to provide a wind turbine to reduce the cost of electricity and help reduce the carbon footprint in the process? Also, regarding solar panelling on dairy farms and the milking parlour where it will be possible to install solar panels, does the Minister envisage any aid being available under those headings?

While we are not concerned in this debate with the single farm payment, the digitisation and the delay in payments, it must be possible to make the payments-----

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