Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

This question is about the disadvantaged areas scheme, DAS, about which there has been some confusion. It is important to point out that the changes relating to eligibility that we are applying to the disadvantaged areas scheme in order to make savings have not changed since budget day. We have debated some of these matters in the House previously. There appears to be a view that we have suddenly changed a number of things in the last few weeks. We have not. What I said on budget day last year is what we are trying to implement.

What I was trying to avoid was cutting the rates or the areas under which farmers could apply for a disadvantaged area payment. I did not want to reduce the income of people who are farming at reasonable stocking rates and keeping their stock for a reasonable amount of time during the year. I was anxious to make a distinction between farmers whose farms are fully in disadvantaged areas and those whose farms were only partly in disadvantaged areas, that is, farmers whose primary holding is outside a disadvantaged area but who are leasing or buying land in a disadvantaged area and drawing down funds. They are not in the same category as farmers whose full holding is in a disadvantaged area. In other words, we are trying to change the eligibility to make savings in as intelligent a way as possible in order to protect real and active farmers.

If some people are losing payments unfairly as a result of those changes, I am anxious to hear about it. We will put an appeals mechanism in place and I have been given assurances that it will be a swift mechanism that will give people a quick decision. I hope people will use it. We are trying to make a distinction by using last year as a reference year for trying to make a measurement of reasonable stocking rates in disadvantaged areas in respect of sheep, suckler herds and so forth. I spoke to farming organisations before making those decisions to get their reaction. I am not saying the farming organisations are responsible for the decisions, because they are not. I am responsible. However, I am anxious to outline the motivation for the decisions we took.

Finally, in the past when Ministers and previous Governments have had to make savings in the DAS, they simply reduced the area farmers could apply for or reduced the rate of payment. We wanted to do things in a more targeted way and change the scheme in a way that would protect farmers who are relying on and need DAS payments, and to try to make the distinction from other farmers who are in a different category. That was the motivation for what we are trying to do and that policy has been consistent since budget day last year.

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