Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this question. I am very conscious that I have been talking about putting an AEOS III in place for some time. Therefore, I am pleased, in the week that is in it and given the focus on farming this week, to be able to announce an AEOS III today. It will be modelled on last year's AEOS II. I understand and appreciate the value of environmental schemes to farmers, not just as an income support but, more importantly, as a way of ensuring we remain committed to sustainable farming and the sustainable production of food. That is the reason I have been working for the past four months to find a way to put a scheme in place, while at the same time remaining under the ceiling of expenditure allocated to my Department for next year.

We have been working with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in recent weeks to try to finalise an AEOS III model. I am allocating €20 million for AEOS III next year. I expect to be able to accommodate approximately 6,000 applicants. A maximum payment of €4,000 will be available to farmers. Essentially, they will sign up to get a recognition payment for specific actions they will take with regard to sustainability. They will be asked to support the maintenance of traditional hay meadows, wild bird cover, hedgerows, stone walls and species-rich grassland, for example. I think farmers understand such measures because of the first two agri-environment options schemes. In my view, they will sign up for such measures again in return for a funding model that is essentially based on last year's AEOS II. I wanted to stick with last year's model so farmers who studied that model will understand what we are doing on this occasion and be able to make applications. I will explain how we will deal with applications from excess numbers of farmers if questions are asked on that topic. If we have to prioritise who should be in and who should be out, we will try to do that in a very fair way.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

The scheme will be largely similar to previous years. I intend to introduce a small number of minor changes which are designed to target increased benefits to participating farmers and to the environment. As in earlier years, farmers with commonage land, designated special areas of conservation or special protection areas will be required to follow a sustainable management plan prepared by a planner. Those applicants will be given priority in determining access to the scheme. Applicants other than those requiring a sustainable management plan will not be required to engage a planner to complete their application forms. In addition to the priority given to designated land, applicants will be assessed on the basis of selection criteria reflecting previous participation in REPS, farm size and location in disadvantaged areas. Full details of the scheme will be announced by my Department in the next day or so.

I want to reiterate my commitment to agri-environment schemes that put environmentally friendly farming to the fore and recognise the vital role farmers play in delivering public goods for the benefit of all of society. This commitment is matched by the enthusiasm of Irish farmers who have shown a keen willingness to engage with environmental issues since the introduction of the first agri-environment scheme and have done so in huge numbers. There are approximately 30,000 participants in REPS. The agri-environment options scheme, which is the successor to REPS, is a more targeted agri-environment scheme. It is part-funded from modulation funds under the CAP health check. The scheme specifically targets the three challenges - halting biodiversity loss, contributing to the improvement of water quality and combating climate change - that have been assigned the highest priority at European level as they are in need of urgent action. There are currently approximately 14,500 participants in AEOS I and II.

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