Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

That is because I do not yet have an exact answer to that question. This is not just about an appeals mechanism. Any farmer who was required to have a lower stocking rate in 2011, because of a commonage framework programme or because they are in an SAC or NHA, than the threshold stocking rate we introduced, will automatically get a derogation. No appeal is required for that. In other words, farmers who are required to have low stocking rates in order to protect the environment are not subject to the proposed changes. It is important that everybody understands that. It is not a case of telling people we are going to cut their disadvantaged area payment because they had a low stocking rate last year, with farmers saying they were required to have it that low. Anyone who is required to have a stocking rate below 0.3 livestock units per forage hectare will automatically maintain their disadvantaged area payments if they were getting them.

It concerns people on other lands who do not have stocking rate restrictions, who had very low stocking rates. There were people who put the bare minimum stock on the land in order to draw down the disadvantaged area payment. In fact, it was the farmers who asked me to increase the stocking rate. It is important to say that we did not make this change lightly. We made the change having spoken to many farmers. Many stocking rates and commonage areas are being re-examined now by my Department and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Hopefully, we will see new commonage framework plans being put in place that will recommend an increase in stocking rate levels. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that in much of the country we are under-grazing rather than over-grazing, which is doing as much damage.

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